At China Cycle 2023, Cheng Shin Rubber launched CST Cortex, a tire for two-wheel applications built using the company’s Eco-Re sustainable development technology.
The CST Cortex represents the Chinese company’s latest use of ESG sustainable materials and features a lightweight 60TPI sidewall carcass design that reduces the product’s weight by 15%, with the manufacturer stating that this weight reduction cuts related CO2 emissions by 0.72kg. The tire’s rolling resistance has also been reduced by more than 10% and discarded rice husks were used as a renewable raw material in production.
Alongside the CST Cortex launch, the manufacturer also outlined its achievements in advancing the development of ESG sustainable materials technologies and their applications across the three Eco-Re scopes of Reduce, Renewable and Recycle.
Under ‘Reduce’, the manufacturer has greatly reduced the number of materials required for tire production by implementing new technologies and applying lightweight designs. Since doing this, CST has saved of 4,000 tons of tire materials and 2,500 tons of synthetic rubber and carbon black, resulting in a 6,000-ton reduction in CO2 emissions in 2022.
Through its ‘Renewable’ concept, CST has developed a sustainable and renewable raw material which utilizes discarded rice husks. These are processed into rice husk ash (RHA) and used to replace carbon black in the manufacturing process. For every kilogram of carbon black replaced, CST has managed to reduce CO2 emissions by a stated 4.15kg.
As part of ‘Recycle’, the company now uses regenerative rubber produced using eco-friendly latex to partially replace the use of synthetic rubber by optimizing the formula and production process. In 2022, CST used 600 tons of the eco-friendly recycled rubber.
“As a global enterprise, CST is actively promoting environmental protection and low-carbon development of the society, and we’ve incorporated the sustainability concepts in the R&D, production, management and more, especially focusing on strengthening our ESG strategies to create products with reduced consumables and lower energy consumptions,” said Dr Jamie Xu, president of CST Xiamen Group. “In the future, we will extend the ESG-centric solutions to all aspects of the industry value chain and drive the development of green travel for all.”
