It was in February 2021 when Michelin announced that it will use 40 percent of sustainable materials to manufacture its tires by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. And to achieve those set targets, Michelin has partnered with a French biochemistry firm called Carbios. Now, Carbios has developed a technology that can de-polymerize plastic, through an enzymatic recycling process. This process can help Michelin to use plastic waste, especially single-use PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles, and use the same as an ingredient to manufacture tires.
The de-polymerizing process can be used to recycle 100 percent PET waste and convert them into high tenacity fibers which meet the requirement to make Michelin tires. This high tenacity polyester is suitable for making tires, as it has proven to be highly resistant to breakage, has good thermal stability, and is tough too.
“We are very proud to be the first to have produced and tested recycled technical fibers for tires. These reinforcements were made from colored bottles and recycled using the enzymatic technology of our partner, Carbios,” said Nicolas Seeboth, Director of Polymer Research at Michelin. “These high-tech reinforcements have demonstrated their ability to provide performance identical to those from the oil industry.
Every year, 1.6 billion car tires are sold worldwide and over 800,000 tonnes of PET fibers are used in the manufacturing of these tires. Michelin suggests that it could recycle nearly 3 billion plastic bottles into high tenacity plastic fiber in manufacturing tires. Currently, Carbios is testing the technology at a pilot scale and says that it will start a demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand, its headquarters by September 2021. Clermont-Ferrand also serves as the headquarters for Michelin as well.