The Commercial Specialty Tire business unit of Continental Tire the Americas LLC is launching two brands of remolded industrial tires for sale in North America. “In terms of cost, these lines are overall less expensive than a new industrial tire,” says Gary Sass, Continental’s market manager for industrial tires in the United States.
Both of the environmentally friendly lines, the Ameri*Steel and Astrum Blue, will be available in May.
Eco-friendly industrial tires
Under the Ameri*Steel brand, Continental is launching a full-size industrial solid tire in press-on band construction. Manufactured from recycled base bands and with new rubber, the Ameri*Steel line is offered in a standard black compound with a smooth tread design. The tire, which features high load-carrying capacity, is available in 11 core sizes ranging from 10x5x6.5 to 22x9x16.
“With the lowered cost from a recycled base and band, our new Ameri*Steel solid tires provide a green alternative for forklift operations,” says Dr. Michael Andreas Maertens, managing director of Continental CST. “This tire offers a viable solution for both your economic and environmental needs, and also provides the heavy-duty construction and stationary stability that forklift operators need.”
Designed with a traction tread pattern for the North American market, the new Astrum Blue line will be launched in 17 sizes for standard and snap-in-tire rims. The sizes range from 15x4.5 up to 10.00-20.
This new super elastic solid tire is manufactured from recycled solid tire cores that are remolded with new rubber and a strong sidewall in a standard black compound.
Astrum Blue tires feature robust, puncture-resistant construction. They also are mountable on both industrial and pneumatic tire rims, says Maertens.
Jim Wheeler, territory manager for Best One Tire Group’s Nashville division, has been testing the tires for 16 months. He reports zero failures.
“Both tires are cost-effective and made to run. And they are green, which is always a positive, nowadays.”
Continental’s focus on all things ‘green’
These two new industrial tire product lines are just one way that Continental is adopting eco-friendly changes at all stages of the tire’s life, from initial tire development through production.
The company is seeking to minimize the use of environmentally harmful materials with a heavy carbon footprint.
Continental also has removed nitrosamine and polycyclic hydrocarbons, which are aromatic oils that have been used in tire production and are believed to be carcinogenic. Throughout the production process, the aim is to increase the use of recycled materials and reduce to a minimum the use of fossil-based resources like oil.
Continental says it is committed to clean, energy-efficient production — for example, by recovering more waste heat from the curing process, which can then be fed back to the production process.
“The waste heat recovery is used in our production processes for new consumer and medium radial truck tires as well as industrial tires,” adds Sass. ■
