At the 2021 Movin'On Summit, Michelin is set to unveil a racing tire containing 46% sustainable materials, fitted to the GreenGT Mission H24 hydrogen-powered prototype developed for endurance racing. With its totally new innovation engineered for motorsports, Michelin has found what many observers thought was impossible: a way to make a tire with high sustainable content that still delivers superior on-track performance.
This very high percentage was achieved by increasing the tire’s natural rubber content and using recycled carbon black recovered from end-of-life tires. Other bio-sourced or recycled sustainable materials used in the tire include such everyday items as orange and lemon rind, sunflower oil, pine resin and recycled steel from aluminum cans.
As a real-world technological laboratory, motorsports enable Michelin to develop and test new high-tech solutions in extreme usage conditions. With this innovative partnership, Michelin is showcasing its ability to incorporate an ever-higher proportion of sustainable materials into its products without compromising on their performance.
This year, Michelin announced its commitment to using 100% sustainable materials in all its tires by 2050. This commitment will reach an initial milestone in 2030, with a Group-wide target of having 40% sustainable materials in its tires. Alongside its commitment to integrating sustainable materials into its tires, Michelin also uses eco-design processes to attenuate its tires' environmental impact at every stage in their lifecycle, from raw materials sourcing and production to road use and recycling.
"We share a core value with Movin'On and its partners, namely the deep belief that mobility, and movement in the broadest sense of the term, are inherent to life and a source of progress," says Michelin Managing Chairman Florent Menegaux. "The two innovative solutions we are presenting at this year’s global sustainable mobility summit offer tangible, real-world proof of our determination to make mobility increasingly sustainable."
