On May 30 at the Movin’On 2018 conference in Montreal, Quebec, Michelin announced its ambitious plan to ensure that by 2048, all of its tires will be manufactured using 80% sustainable materials and 100% of all tires will be recycled.

Today, the world-wide recovery rate for tires is 70% and the recycling rate is 50 percent. According to Michelin leadership, that 70% simply isn’t good enough. Michelin tires are currently made using 28% sustainable materials (26% bio-sourced materials like natural rubber, sunflower oil, limonene etc., and 2% recycled materials, such as steel or recycled powdered tires). For a sustainable future, Michelin says it is investing in high technology recycling technologies to be able to increase this content from 28% to 80% sustainable materials over the next 30 years.

 

Sustainable Materials

 The route to this ambitious sustainable material target will be achieved by research programs into bio-sourced materials like Biobutterfly and working with Michelin’s high-level partners, and the advanced technologies and materials that are being developed in these partnerships. The Biobutterfly program was launched in 2012 with Axens and IFP Energies Nouvelles to create synthetic elastomers from biomass such as wood, straw or beet.

Michelin is developing innovative solutions today in order to integrate more and more recycled and renewable materials in its tires, while continuing to improve performance, including 30% of recycled materials by 2048 as part of that 80%. This is demonstrated by the recent acquisition of Lehigh, a specialist in high technology micro powders, which are derived from recycled tires.

Lehigh Technologies is a specialty chemical company that is part of the High Technology Materials Business Unit of Michelin. Lehigh is the leader in the marketplace for micronized rubber powders (MRP), a sustainable raw material that reduces feedstock costs by up to 50 percent and delivers performance without compromise across a wide range of markets. MRP replaces oil- and rubber-based feedstocks in a wide range of industrial and consumer applications, including high-performance tires, plastics, consumer goods, coatings, sealants, construction materials and asphalt. Lehigh technical experts collaborate with customers to optimize products for each application.

Lehigh operates the world’s largest MRP manufacturing plant in Tucker, Georgia, with an annual production capacity of 54,000 tons. Lehigh’s state-of-the-art application & development center is also located in Tucker and serves as an innovation hub where Michelin conducts research and formulates MRPs in collaboration with its customers. Michelin has five product ranges so far, and continues to expand the range of solutions in core markets. Lehigh Spain, a joint venture with Hera Holding, is based in Barcelona. The first Lehigh plant outside of the U.S., located in Murrillo del Fruto, is under construction and will begin operations in summer 2018.

Commenting on this venture, Christophe Rahier, director of the High Technology Materials Business Line at Michelin said: ‘This acquisition demonstrates Michelin’s strategic determination to capitalize on its expertise in high-tech materials, in areas that extend beyond the field of tires. In particular, by promoting the use of innovative recycled materials from tires in a variety of non-pneumatic industrial sectors’.

 

Recycling

In 2018, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, it is estimated that 1 billion of end-of-life tires are generated worldwide, representing around 25 million ton. Within this total, 70% of tires are recovered and 50% are recycled every year on average. This 50% is the amount of recycled material that goes into various products, such as rubber used in sports surfaces, while the additional 20 percent is transformed into energy.

By comparison, a mere 14% of plastic containers or packages are recovered each year (according to source https://newplasticseconomy.org), and the car industry has a target of 3.5% recycling rate.

Michelin is investing in high technology recycling so that by 2048 tires are 100% recycled for the vehicles of the future. To achieve these ambitions, Michelin proposes to develop partnerships and identify new ways to recycle tires, or new outlets for recycled tires.

 

Potential Gains

When all of these ambitions are achieved – 80 percent sustainable materials and 100 percent of tires recycled – the savings will be equivalent to:

• 33 Million barrels of oil saved per year (16.5 supertankers), or 54,000 GWh.
• One month’s total energy consumption of France.
• 65 billion kilometers driven by an average sedan (8 L/100 km) per year.
• All cars in Europe driving 225 kms (291 million kms), or 54 kms for all cars worldwide (1.2 billion cars estimated).

 

Vision Concept Tire

These announcements regarding the company’s priority on sustainable solutions and advanced technology builds upon recent news, including recent calls for worn tire testing to ensure a tire’s end-of-life aligns with its performance capabilities and need for removal. Last year at Movin’On, Michelin revealed its innovative Vision concept. Advanced materials and 3D printing technologies will be used to manufacture and renew the tread of this mobility solution and will mean that it is 100 percent recyclable. The features of this concept which enhance its sustainability credentials:

• An airless tire made of bio-sourced and recycled products
• A connected eco-system within the tire, providing services and advice to the driver
• A bio-degradable tread that can be renewed with a 3D printer
• A mobility solution that reduces the environmental footprint of car journeys

 

Article to be updated.