UK tire company Enso gains B-Corp sustainability status

London – Electronic vehicles tire company Enso has acquired B Corporation (B-Corp) certified business status in recognition of its sustainability efforts.

Founded in 2016, Enso aims to develop ‘next-generation energy efficient, low-emission tires’ for the EV market.

The London-based company claims to be the world’s first sustainable tire company, combining design and material technology “to develop a series of sustainable tires designed specifically for EVs, to increase EV range and reduce tire pollution.”

In a statement 16 March, Enso said that its tires aim to address the increasing levels of tire pollution, which is in part is driven by the rapidly expanding EV sector.

“EVs typically wear tires 20–50% faster than petrol and diesel models, due to their higher weight and torque, and need tire replacements more often, leading to more waste,” Enso said.

Conventional tires are also rarely optimised for EVs, and as a result EV energy-efficiency and EV range is significantly below what is possible.

Enso’s ultra-energy-efficient tires, on the other hand, have achieved ‘A’ energy efficiency ratings in Germany and Spain, the company said.

The tires also broke a hypermiling world record in June 2021, increasing the range of an unmodified Renault Zoe EV, by 50 miles (11.9%) compared with standard OE tires.

“As well as increasing EV range, Enso is focused on making tires far more durable to reduce tire pollution and increasing renewable raw materials to achieve net-zero,” the company said.

This “substantially reduces” the impact of tires across the lifecycle and cuts the need for frequent tire replacement.

B-Corp. is a global movement of businesses supporting each other to improve and drive global change.

It awards a private certification to for-profit companies based on their social and environmental performance.

To achieve B-Corp status, Enso said its business operations and environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy were “rigorously assessed” by an independent third-party.

To qualify for the certification, businesses must score 80 and above during the impact assessment.

While the average score is 91, Enso said it scored an overall total of 96.7.