Press Release
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Continental Wins GreenTec Award 2014 for Dandelion Rubber
- Joint development project with the Fraunhofer Institute awarded Europe's biggest environmental and economic prize in the category "Automobility"
- Jury praises positive environmental impact due to shorter transport distances and protection of the rain forest
Hanover/Munich, May 8, 2014. Leading tire manufacturer and automotive supplier, Continental, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME)
at the University of Münster were honored with the GreenTec Award 2014 for their co-development project "RUBIN – Industrial Emergence of Natural Rubber from Dandelion."
A 60-member jury panel consisting of experts from industry, academia, trade associations, and the media considered this project to be an outstanding example of commitment to the environment and pioneering environmental technology in the category "Automobility." The award ceremony was held on May 4th in Munich at the start of IFAT, the world's leading trade fair for environmental technology,in front of 1000 guests from the worlds of business, sport and entertainment. The GreenTec Awards, of which there are 14 different categories, are Europe's biggest environmental and business awards and were first presented in 2008.
"We are very pleased to receive this award for our dandelionrubber project. Continental is pushing a very promising technology whose full potential will fully unfold in the next few years. In view of increasing levels of motorization in growth markets such as Asia, we expect a major increase in demand for natural rubber in the future. We are convinced that the use
of rubber from dandelion root will make our tire production considerably more efficient and sustainable," said Nikolai Setzer, Member of the Executive Board of Continental and Head
of Tire Division.
"In the RUBIN project we are working to find an ecologically, economically, and socially viable solution to meet this growing demand," added Dr. Andreas Topp, Vice President Material and Process Development and Industrialization Tires at Continental. Continental and IME are currently working on the industrial use of Russian dandelion, which is said to be very rubber-rich and does not need a tropical climate in contrast to regular rubber trees. This undemanding plant can be cultivated in a number of temperate regions on what is known as "marginal land" that was previously unusable in terms of agriculture. Topp: "Dandelion rubber will shorten transport routes to our production sites and enable the growing global demand for rubber to be met without sacrificing more precious areas of rainforest. Both these factors will have a sustainably positive effect on the world's carbon footprint and on bio-diversity."
Photos and captions:
- Photo of event: Project Manager Dr. Carla Recker (Continental) and ProfessorDr. Dirk Prüfer (Fraunhofer Institute) receive the European environment prize "GreenTec Award 2014"
- Photo of dandelion plant: In the future, the dandelion plant will provide rubber to make tires.
Continental AG
With sales of around €33.3 billion in 2013, Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of tires, brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, and technical elastomers, Continental contributes to enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also
an expert partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently has more than
182,000 employees in 49 countries.
Tire Division
As one of the world's leading tire manufacturers with more than 44,000 employees, the Tire division achieved sales of more than €9.6 billion in 2013. The division currently has 24 production and development locations worldwide. The broad product range and continuous investments in R&D
make a major contribution to cost-effective and ecologically efficient mobility.
Passenger and Light Truck Tires
Continental is one of the leading manufacturers of passenger and light truck tires in Europe and the world's fourth largest passenger tire manufacturer in the original equipment and replacement market. The product development focus of the Continental premium brand is to optimize all safety-relevant characteristics, while simultaneously minimizing rolling resistance.
Sponsorship
Continental's Tire division is an Official Sponsor of the German DFB Cup, Major League Soccer in the US and Canada,the 2014 FIFA World CupTM in Brazil, the Asia Cup 2015 in Australia and UEFA EURO 2016TM in France.
Media Database
Contact:Alexander Bahlmann
Head of PR, Passenger and Light Truck Tires
Continental AG
Tire division
Büttnerstrasse 25, 30165 Hanover, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 511 938 2615
Fax: +49 (0) 511 938 2455
/ Klaus Engelhart
Press Spokesman, Passenger and Light Truck/Two-Wheel Tires
Germany/Austria/Switzerland
Continental AG
Tire division
Büttnerstrasse 25, 30165 Hanover, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 511 938 2285
Fax: +49 (0) 511 938 2455
Your contact:
Klaus Engelhart, Phone: + 49 (0) 511 938 2285