New Continental Sustainability Department Includes Retread Operations

July 23, 2020

Continental AG has created a new department to oversee its sustainability-focused activities and businesses, including the company’s ContiLifeCycle retreading program.

Claus Petschick, a 30-year Continental veteran, will direct the department. He reports to Christian Kotz, head of Continental’s tire busines area.

With the establishment of the new department, Kotz says that Continental is “consolidating our far-reaching activities and research projects and underscoring our commitment to further systematic expansion of sustainable business models and innovative products and services along the entire value chain.”

Continental's sustainability strategy focuses on four areas: climate change mitigation, clean mobility, circular economies and sustainable supply chains. The company says it is “systematically investing in the research and development of new technologies, alternative materials and environmentally compatible production processes.

"This includes, for example, the extension of product service life through retreading," say Continental officials. "Back in 2013, Continental already built the globally unique ContiLifeCycle plant in Hanover, Germany, for this purpose. Here, specially designed machine fleets with integrated retreading systems set new standards in the field of tire recycling."

The new department also will oversee Continental’s efforts to extract natural rubber from dandelions, among other initiatives.