The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has released a demonstration tire with 70% sustainable-material content. The 70% sustainable-material tire includes 13 featured ingredients across nine different tire components, including:

• Carbon black is included in tires for compound reinforcement and to help increase their life and has traditionally been made by burning various types of petroleum products. Goodyear’s new tire features three different carbon blacks that are produced from methane, carbon dioxide, and plant-based oil. Initial life cycle assessments demonstrate either reduced carbon emissions compared with current methods of carbon black production or the use of bio-based or waste feedstock sources.

• The use of soybean oil in tires is a significant Goodyear innovation that helps keep a tire’s rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures. Soybean oil is a bio-based resource that reduces Goodyear’s use of petroleum-based products. While nearly 100% of soy protein is used in food/animal feed applications, a significant surplus of oil is left over and available for use in industrial applications.

• Silica is an ingredient often used in tires to help improve grip and reduce fuel consumption. Goodyear’s new tire contains a unique variety of silica produced from rice husk ash, a byproduct of rice processing that is often discarded and put into landfills. A high-quality silica has been produced from this waste ash.

• Polyester is recycled from plastic bottles and other plastic waste by reverting the polyester into its base chemicals and reforming them into technical grade polyester feasible for tire cords.

Company performance indicators have shown the component properties to deliver strong overall tire performance.

We set an ambitious goal in 2020 to create a tire made 100% from sustainable materials in 10 years, and our scientists and engineers have made great progress toward that goal. This is an exciting achievement that demonstrates our commitment to increasing the use of sustainable materials in our tires.

—Chris Helsel, senior vice president, global operations and chief technology officer

The 70% sustainable-material tire has been produced as a demonstration tire.

Non-pneumatic tire. Separately, Goodyear announced it has developed and is testing a custom-engineered non-pneumatic tire (NPT) to support Starship delivery robots.

Starship Technologies, a Goodyear Ventures portfolio company, builds and operates a network of more than 1,000 last mile autonomous robots that carry and deliver packages, groceries and food directly to customers.

To address Starship’s request related to tire health and maintenance, Goodyear developed a specially engineered airless tire designed to extend tire life and reduce maintenance activities for Starship’s delivery fleet.

Goodyear and Starship have entered an in-field testing phase at Bowling Green State University to evaluate vehicle and tire dependencies. Early on-vehicle tire testing data has shown positive results with respect to treadwear, braking and vibration dampening.