Industry

THE CONTEXT
Goodyear are one of the world's largest tyre manufacturers. In order to maintain their leading position, they continuously carry out scientific research to improve the performance of their tyres; at the same time, they are sensitive to environmental issues, and they seek to reduce the polluting components used in the production processes to a minimum.

the basic problem:
Carbon black, which has been used in tyre production for over a century, and silica, which has been on the market for only ten years, are not eco-compatible. Furthermore, oil is a natural source that is in increasingly short supply, and for this reason, the cost of petrol continues to rise.

Therefore, we need to find a new technology that enables us to use less of the oil reserves, that is environmentally sustainable, and that achieves a high level of product quality.



The solutions:
Novamont's collaboration with Goodyear led to the creation of the bio-tyre, which uses BioTred technology, an environmentally sustainable solution that achieves new levels of performance.

Product characteristics:
Using maize starch, Novamont created a biofiller that replaces the carbon black and silica in tyres.

Advantages:
Thanks to the natural internal structure of its mix, the bio-tyre achieves:

• a reduction in fuel consumption, thanks to the lower resistance to rolling (even with respect to the current "energy" mixes)
• better road-holding in the wet, and therefore better safety;
• a reduction in the weight of the tyre;
• lower consumption of the tread;
• a reduction in noise, and therefore, in sound pollution
• a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions (of the order of 10 g per kilometre), and therefore, in atmospheric pollution;
• a reduction in the amount of energy used to produce the tyres.

The results:

• Economic

Savings due to the use of less fuel. It has been calculated that for a distance of 15,000 km covered per year, the fuel saving for the driver is over €150 (a value linked to the average price of oil in the year 2000). Furthermore, the bio-tyre costs no more than traditional tyres.

• Technical

Better performance and greater road safety.

• Ecological

Lower environmental impact.