Taking gold twice

Continental’s Urban Taraxagum bicycle tyre, made from dandelion rubber, has won the prestigious Red Dot Design award, and was recently awarded the E-Bike Design & Innovation Award in the Sustainability & Green category by the magazine Focus E-Bike.

While the Red Dot Award was obtained for the tyre’s tread design, which is based on the cell shape of the dandelion, Focus E-Bike has commended the sustainability of rubber extraction from dandelions.

“We are delighted about the two awards,” says Thomas Falke, head of Continental’s business unit: Two-Wheel Tires. “They reflect the particularly successful design and sustainability of our Urban Taraxagum bicycle tyre. In this way, our unique product – made in Korbach, Germany – is actively contributing to environmentally-friendly mobility and thus to greater sustainability.”

This is the first production tyre to be manufactured using natural rubber from dandelion plants. It has been produced in Continental’s bicycle tyre plant in Korbach for two years and is available for sale in Europe, both in-store and online, and will be made available to various markets globally in due course.

Claus Petschick, head of sustainability in Continental’s Tires business area, adds: “Our dandelion-rubber tyres are an important part of our extensive sustainability activities, and of the ambitious goal of making our products, production processes and our research and development even more sustainable. Our efforts to cease importing the important rubber material from the tropics, and instead to manufacture it as close as possible to our tyre plants, will make a significant contribution.”

In the future, Continental’s long-term Taraxagum project will be to supply natural rubber from dandelion plants, which can be used for the production of two-wheel, passenger car or commercial vehicle tyres as well as other vehicle parts made of natural rubber.

Continental has already produced the first test tyres for passenger cars and trucks.