Tire Innovation Lab

With the Green Deal, the European Commission is aligning industrial production with the concept of a circular economy. In the future, resources used should circulate in closed biological and technical cycles, and industrial societies should not generate new emissions.

AI-based inspection systems and smart memory materials

The transformation of our economy will affect every industry, because the Green Deal primarily means abandoning a linear understanding of production, use, and disposal. Processes optimized over decades must be reviewed. Furthermore, the challenges of this major transformation will lead to a redesign of product ranges in most industrial sectors.

At the Innovation Lab of THE TIRE COLOGNE 2026, the world’s leading international trade fair for the tire industry, the Innovation Lab demonstrates how circular business models and smart production processes interlock and enable tire production within the context of the circular economy. This will lead to increased recycling rates and significantly improved material recovery.

Tire manufacturers are increasingly relying on new formulations for their rubber compounds, which will eliminate the need for petroleum-based resources in the long term and utilize new bio-based raw material sources such as silicates from rice hull ash or secondary materials from the paper and wood industries. Novel, bio-based rubber types will enable car tires with previously unattainable properties.

Zero waste prevention in production is a key focus, as are new disposal options (pyrolysis), retreading, and recycling, leveraging the potential of pioneering technologies such as robotics and automation. Furthermore, the negative environmental impacts of dust generated by tire abrasion are to be addressed.

AI-based inspection systems and sensors for identifying wear patterns will facilitate optimized tire maintenance. Smart memory materials in Active Aero Wheels enable intelligent adjustment of the rim design while driving, reducing air resistance and simultaneously providing on-demand brake cooling.

Visitors to the Innovation Lab at THE TIRE Cologne can look forward to live presentations and witness the 3D printing of a rim and a rubber-like elastomeric tire in a single process step. A Swiss start-up will present a world first: a material technology that enables both the chemical recycling of vulcanized rubber and its natural biodegradability.

www.thetire-cologne.de