Local tyre manufacturer Bridgestone South Africa is working to decarbonise its energy sources and reduce its manufacturing carbon footprint by 50% by 2027.

“We use raw materials that are produced sustainably, wherever practical, and focus on sourcing locally rather than importing to reduce the carbon footprint of our inputs,” says Bridgestone South Africa operations director Jacques Rikhotso.

This initiative comes in response to Bridgestone’s global emphasis on establishing itself as a sustainable mobility solutions company, which Rikhotso says means Bridgestone South Africa must adapt its manufacturing strategy accordingly.

As a result, Bridgestone South Africa’s primary focus is introducing renewable energy as a decarbonisation strategy.

“The work we are doing to invest in solar power at our factory in Brits, in the North West, and in an alternative fuel source for our boiler plant gives me confidence that we are well on course to achieve our 2027 target,” says Rikhotso.

The second aspect of the company’s sustainability work is the enhancement of circularity in the life cycle of its products. This entails the manufacturing of tyres with strong carcasses that last longer and require less frequent replacement.

High quality, stronger carcasses also allows the tyre to be retreaded multiple times.

Retreading refers to skiving off the top layer of the worn tyre tread and reapplying a new tread on the same carcass.

This is practiced on the truck and bus tyres manufactured by Bridgestone and a “select few other premium tyre manufacturers”, says Rikhotso.

He says a Bridgestone tyre can undergo up to three retread cycles, making it one of “South Africa’s favourite tyre in the truck and bus industry, owing to its competitive and sustainable total cost of ownership”.

The durability of tyre carcasses also enables tyres to better withstand road infrastructure issues in South Africa, such as potholes, which forms part of the company’s strategy to deploy a total tyre care solution for its truck and bus tyres.

Bridgestone is also working with third parties to allow for the repurposing of used tyres, and establishing secondary rubber applications, such as using the rubber crumb from old tyres to build artificial sports fields and for paving.

The company aims to invest in manufacturing technologies and materials that allow for the recovery and reuse of tyre components such as recycled oils, carbon black and steel chords.

“Our technical centres globally are in advanced stages of developing the incorporation of recycled materials for tyre manufacturing,” says Rikhotso.

He adds that the company is also deploying technology to improve truck fuel efficiencies through the manufacturing of lighter, but more advanced, performance compounds.

Hence, Bridgestone launched its Enliten compound technology in 2019, and a series of more fuel-efficient tyres with this technology will be introduced to the market at a later stage.

As part of its total tyre care offering, Bridgestone has developed FleetCare as a tyre and fleet management solution.

FleetCare includes a tyre monitoring system, with sensors placed on every truck tyre to monitor physical parameters, inflation pressure, temperature and load.

Rikhotso says a number of Bridgestone’s fleet customers are seeing the benefit of the Total Tyre Care principle that comes with the use of technology in advancing their fuel saving initiatives and providing a more reliable service.

“By monitoring the conditions of our tyres, we can provide insights for customers regarding safer routes with fewer potholes which will, consequently, help avoid premature failures. This, therefore, supports our sustainability initiatives,” he says.

Fuel Efficiency

To achieve its sustainability goals, Bridgestone produces fuel-efficient tyres, such as its Ecopia commercial tyre range, for trucks and buses.

The range provides lower rolling resistance and increased durability, owing to Bridgestone’s NanoPro-Tech compound that reduces internal friction between the different trye compound elements.

This, in turn, decreases energy loss in the top compound as the tyre rotates which, consequently, lowers rolling resistance and fuel consumption.

Bridgestone aims to continue supporting local and global mobility solutions, and the mobility of people and goods.

“Sustainability is at the heart of our strategy and is becoming the way we do business. Our existence and future depends on it,” concludes Rikhotso.