Bekaert sends first recycled steel tire reinforcement to Bridgestone

Brussels – Bekaert has delivered the first batch of tire reinforcement with recycled steel content to Bridgestone Corp. for a pilot project at the tire maker.

In an announcement 14 Dec, the Belgian group said it achieved a ‘sustainability milestone’ by obtaining third-party certificates for its tire reinforcement with high recycled steel content.

According to the group, Bekaert’s tire reinforcement has “a minimum recycled content of 50% for tire cord and 70% for bead wire”.

The certification, it added, helps meet the rising demand of our customers and end markets and address a critical challenge in the industry.

With “many claims about circularity of materials in the tire industry,” and a “lack of clear definitions and standards”, there can be doubt about the validity of such claims, said Heiko Isselee of Bekaert.

The third-party certification of both Bekaert and its wire rod supplier ensure compliance of the recycled content claims, said the Bekaert ‘innovation platform manager’ for recycled steel.

“This certificate allows customers to confidently include the recycled content in the Bekaert products to the tally of recycled content in their tires,” he added.

The Brussels-based group said it applied “the best available recycled content definitions and traceability of materials” in its certification.

Furthermore, it said that it has carried out “rigorous processes” at its supplier’s wire rod factory and its own steel cord plant to be able to trace the content in the composition.

Therefore, it added, “it is guaranteed that the physical content of the steel cord and bead wire supplied to our customers contain the declared amount of recycled steel.”