Page 29 - CTB n4 - 2013/4

COMPANY NEWS
tyre costs only make up 5% of a fleet’s operating costs, as much as 45% of overall operating costs are influenced by tyre choice, the most significant being fuel , which typically makes up a third of a transport company’s running expenses.
The modular tyre life-cycle concept from Continental extends the tyre's service life, reduces tyre costs, and ensures greater cost effectiveness. The ContiLifeCycle concept bases its success on four aspects: procurement of new tyres, professional regrooving after the tyre's first life, and retreading,
continually expanding its ContiTreadTM portfolio with more sizes and treads. The ContiTreadTM tread can also be used on the casings of other manufacturers, as well as on Continental casings. "Customers decide which type of retreading is most appropriate for them," explains Herbert Mensching. "After their initial usage, our premium tires remain high quality products in their second life, whether they are hot or cold retreaded."
In Europe, the two processes for tyre retreading are represented almost equally. While Western
ContiLifeCycle Academy, in the plant for training both internal and external staff on different topics of retreading.
As part of the ContiLifeCycle Plant, Continental has developed a recycling process for the buffing dust that arises during retreading. The tread powder is put through a series of different processing steps to reverse the curing process. The recycled material is claimed to be of such high and controlled quality that it can be used for tyre compounding without hesitation,” remarks Dr. Boris Mergell, Vice President Product Development &
fact that the ContiReclaim can be used in areas where conventional reclaim can’t be applied. The capacity of the recycling plant is 4,000 tonnes of material per annum.
The main purpose of the LifeCycle concept though is savings for the fleet manager. “With our ContiRe tyres made in Stöcken, we offer our customers a product portfolio that is economically and ecologically sustainable. Environmentally-friendly production techniques and raw material usage in the ContiLifeCyle Plant are
together with professional casing management, which gives commercial vehicle tyres a second and third lease of life and maximizes their efficiency. Including regrooving of the tread structure by an expert, the overall service life of a Continental tyre can be increased by up to 2.5 times, and the costs reduced by around 22% with premium retreading of high-quality casings. Continental offers two retreading options for premium casings. The customer can choose between ContiReTM for hot retreaded tyres and ContiTreadTM for cold retreaded tyres.
Where hot retreading is used, fresh rubber is applied to the entire casing. When heated, it is vulcanized securely to the casing to create a retreaded premium tyre for use on local and long-distance haulage trucks, construction site vehicles, and buses. All the benefits of Continental tyres, such as low weight, optimized rolling resistance, and good ride comfort, are retained in the ContiReTM even when it has been retreaded. Where cold retreading is required, Continental's partners use the premium ContiTreadTM tread. Here again, the tread's rubber compound and design are identical to the original tread of a new tyre. Continental says it is
Europe prefers hot retreaded tyres (in the UK around 80% of retreads are manufactured using the hot cure process), commercial vehicles in Eastern Europe mainly use cold retreaded tyres. Regardless of which retreading variant is chosen, customers can take advantage of this option to reduce their overall driving costs by giving their tyres a new lease of life. Continental's ContiLifeCycleTM calculation model helps to simulate the benefits that tyre retreading can bring to a specific fleet. It is based on a customer-specific tyre consultation that quickly and simply demonstrates the potential for savings.
Alongside the considerable cost savings for the fleet operators, ContiLifeCycleTM also protects the environment. The reduced consumption of valuable resources, such as natural rubber, lessens the environmental impact of haulage companies. The carbon footprint is also improved, as retreading requires up to 70 percent less energy compared to the manufacture of a new tyre.
Christian Sass explains thelayout of the new ContiLifeCycle Plant
Industrialization Commercial Vehicle Tires at Continental. Tread buffings from Continental’s new ContiLifeCyle retreading factory will be completely used in the recycling facility. This results in the reduction of waste by more than 80 percent and significant CO2-savings.
Continental has actually used conventional recycled rubber in serial production since 2009 at level of 3%. However, according to Mergell, the new facility has the potential to increase the rubber recycling share to 6% due to the
complemented by low rolling resistance of our final products and a wide range of service solutions,” remarked Christian Sass. “All this leads finally to the major objective of the ContiLifeCycle-concept: Lowest overall driving cost for the fleets.” According to Herbert Mensching, Head of Marketing and Sales for Truck Tires EMEA at Continental, fleet operators can lower their costs significantly by using the ContiLifeCycle system in an optimum manner. Mensching points out that although direct
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