To ensure that old tyres do not just land in the garbage, Continental Tyre was the first tyre manufacturer to found a tyre disposal company in 1992 in Germany.

Continental Tyres does their bit for the environment

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Each year, Europe generates 2.5 million tons of old tyres, about 600,000 tons of which originate in Germany, where the most tyres are sold.  This company breaks down old tyres into their individual parts, shredding the scrap rubber - including vulcanized and unvulcanized rubber scrap with metal and fabric components - down to a size as small as 20 millimeters.

Recycled into new products

Black rubber with any metal or textile elements is turned into granules, which serve as the basis for new products such as rubber shoes, door stops, buckets or garden benches. Roof sealing elements and sports floor coverings are also made from the rubber granules, and the scrap product is used to create high-quality wall paneling as well.

But the tyre can also end up back on the road: as retreaded truck tyres, as road surfacing or as noise-reducing surface-layer asphalt.

In SA, most ends up as fuel

Rene Oliver, spokesperson for Continental Tyre (South Africa) says, "The global cement industry uses roughly 288,000 tons of shredded tyres as fuel and this is where the majority of our scrap tyres go in South Africa. Old tyres are also used in agricultural applications and in harbors as well, where 3,000 tons of tyres are used each year. No Continental tyres end up on the dump in South Africa.

"Incidentally, at 96 percent, the tyre industry is achieving a higher recycling quota than glass (83 percent) or paper (61 percent)," she adds.