Recycled Materials: Devulcanized Rubber for Cars
Mercedes-Benz, ContiTech, and Rubber Conversion are working on more sustainable rubber components.
Rubber Conversion replaces virgin rubber with recycled rubber. Rubber Conversion’s product improves the sustainability of rubber-based products by replacing high-content virgin rubber with recycled counterparts, which directly translates to reduced CO2 emissions.
Challenge
The automotive industry has placed significant focus on sustainable practices, for instance, by implementing various recycled materials in the car. When it comes to recycled rubbers, however, it has been difficult to match the required automotive properties so far. Rubber Conversion has implemented a unique method for recycled rubber, from both pre- and post-consumers that provides automotive-grade performance. This results in a significant reduction of the amount of virgin rubber used in automotive components, enabling CO2 reductions, without sacrificing the performance. This technology was successfully tested on a NHV component for Mercedes-Benz.
Solution
Rubber Conversion used its low-temperature devulcanization technology to produce recycled rubber from both the end-of-life tyre feedstock and ContiTech post-production waste feedstock. ContiTech produced two natural rubber-based products with high content of both types of recycled rubber.
Outcome
The prototyped NVH components were successfully tested at component and system levels with Mercedes-Benz for static and dynamic properties, as well as durability. The components exhibited a reduced CO2 footprint compared to their conventional counterparts. The application of the recycling technology to further components is being evaluated.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Johannes Weiss (Mercedes-Benz) and Francesco di Pierro (Rubber Conversion).
Contact for the project
Tim Solle, Ventures Mobility
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