Sustainable material solutions are part of Continental's comprehensive sustainability roadmap, which aims to achieve 100 percent carbon neutrality, 100 percent emission-free mobility and industry, a 100 percent circular economy and 100 percent responsible value chains – all by no later than 2050!

An effective circular economy for polymeric materials substantially contributes to this sustainability roadmap. With polymers, there are two ways of recycling: mechanical and chemical recycling, i.e. chemical degradation of the macromolecular chains into building blocks such as monomers and the pre-cursor raw materials. The most common form of chemical recycling currently available involves a process called pyrolysis, which is a controlled thermal decomposition. This process typically requires a lot of energy and shows limited selectivity.