Continental developing tyres from dandelions

Tyre manufacturer Continental is working with the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) with the objective of using latex from the roots of the dandelion as a commercially viable substitute for natural latex from rainforest plantations.

David O’Donnell, head of global research and development for passenger car and light truck tyres for Continental, noted that the notion of obtaining latex from dandelions has been around for a long time.

“We have been working on this very intensively for the past four years, and two-and-a-half years ago we entered into a joint development project with the Fraunhofer Institute with the aim of cultivating suitable plants,” he said.

“The outcome is a dandelion-based rubber that is comparable in quality and functionality with the product of the rubber tree.”

Dandelion tyre testing.

The collaborators are working with Russian dandelions, which are said to be very rubber-rich and do not need a tropical climate, in contrast to regular rubber trees. The undemanding plant can be cultivated in a number of temperate regions, on what is known as ‘marginal land’ that was previously unusable in terms of agriculture. This means it could be cultivated right next to tyre plants.

“Dandelion rubber will shorten transport routes to our production sites and enable the growing global demand for rubber to be met without sacrificing more precious areas of rainforest,” said Dr Andreas Topp, vice president material and process development and industrialisation tyres at Continental. “Both these factors will have a sustainably positive effect on the world’s carbon footprint and on biodiversity.”

Earlier this year, the project won the Automobility category at the GreenTec Awards, presented at the environmental technology trade fair IFAT. It is one of several recent sustainability initiatives to have undergone development at Continental, alongside the re-use of waste rubber and a new tyre for hybrid vehicles.

“While we don’t want to set a date, the main obstacles have already been overcome,” said O’Donnell. “We think that in three or four years, a substantial number of our initial ‘dandelion tyres’ will be involved in road testing.”