Continental has been recognized by US magazine Time and the global data and business intelligence platform Statista as one of the 500 most sustainable companies in the world for 2024. This assessment is based on a special methodology developed by Time and Statista. They evaluated a total of 5,000 companies based on their sustainability strategy and reporting, as well as more than 20 key indicators, including emissions intensity, energy consumption and share of renewable energies.
Continental achieved a rating of 61.39 out of a possible 100 points, placing it 265th in the ranking. In the category of the automotive industry, the company is one of the top 10 companies. A total of three tyre manufacturers are among the world’s 500 most sustainable companies. Continental is ranked second place.
Continental Tires is characterized by innovative technologies and sustainable solutions along the entire value chain: from the procurement of sustainable materials, through design and production, to the use phase and recycling of end-of-life tyres. The Tires group sector is demonstrating outstanding performance in all of the areas rated by Time and Statista.
All Continental tyre plants are working on individual and company-wide solutions to achieve climate-neutral production by 2040 at the latest. This year, Continental took an important step toward this goal at its tyre plant in Lousado, Portugal. Here, the company can produce tyres carbon-neutrally, which has been made possible with steam generated by an electrically powered boiler. Continental generates the steam using both in-house produced solar power and renewable energy from the grid.
Thanks to 160 energy-saving projects, Continental Tires reduced its annual energy consumption by a total of around 150 gigawatt hours in 2023. This is equivalent to the annual energy requirement of about 12,500 single-family homes and was achieved through increased use of renewable energies and thermal insulation. Moreover, CO2 emissions were reduced by 31,000 tons in 2023 alone.
Future goal: tyres made entirely from sustainable materials
Continental states that it is working hard to achieve its goal of using more than 40 percent renewable and recycled materials in its tyres by 2030 and becoming fully carbon-neutral by 2050. By 2050 at the latest, Continental tyres should be made entirely from sustainable materials.