For those unfamiliar with the company name:SchwalbeMost readers will likely recognizeSchwalbehas been committed to sustainability Ralf Bohle GmbH for several decades, with recycling playing an increasingly central role.
To ensure cyclists have to deal with their bicycle tires and inner tubes as little as possible, Ralf Bohle GmbH in Reichshof, in the Oberbergischer Kreis district, focuses particularly intensively on this topic. The "Schwalbe" brand was born there in 1973, and since then the company has invested considerable money, time, and creativity in the continuous development of bicycle tires and inner tubes. The requirements are diverse and vary depending on the type of bicycle: A quality tire must have a long lifespan, be fast, offer good grip, and withstand rain, sun, heat, and cold. The right rubber compound is crucial; other materials include nylon fabric and, in many tires, wire. This mix presents a challenge for potential recycling.
Nevertheless, the company launched its first project as early as 1993: It supplied used tires to a processing company that turned them into rubber mats. Downcycling, at least. Ten years later, the project ended; it was too technically, energetically, and logistically demanding. However, the company continued its research; Ralf Bohle GmbH was serious about sustainability and convinced that more was possible. For example, regarding carbon black, a component of almost every black tire rubber compound. With 25 million tires sold annually, and not far fewer inner tubes, there would be a significant positive impact on resource conservation and environmental protection if old tires could be processed into new tires and carbon black could be eliminated.
“With this product, we have established a true circular economy.”
The experts at Schwalbe continued their research. In 2015, they launched their inner tube recycling program – since then, every new standard Schwalbe inner tube has consisted of 20 percent recycled inner tubes. Between 2015 and 2022, 8.5 million inner tubes were recycled in this way. In 2021, the company won second prize in the "Going Circular" competition for its inner tube recycling program. This competition is held annually under the patronage of the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy.
In 2022 came the next major milestone: an innovative tire recycling process. This pilot project was made possible through collaboration with the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and a recycling company from Saarland. While used tires were previously mostly incinerated, they can now be shredded in four stages and separated into rubber granulate, textile fiber, and steel. The rubber granulate is placed in a special reactor, essentially a kind of oven. The resulting gases power the plant; oil, which is used by industry, for example in textile fibers, replacing crude oil; and pyrolysis coke. This coke is further processed into a material used in new Schwalbe products, replacing carbon black. In the summer of 2023, Schwalbe will present its first tire that is entirely free of carbon black. "For this product, we have established a true circular economy," says Steffen Jüngst, Public Relations Manager at Ralf Bohle GmbH.
This recycling is made possible by a specially initiated take-back system, for which around 1,600 of the more than 6,000 specialist retailers across Germany were recruited within nine months. Thanks to intensive public awareness campaigns among retailers and end customers, this number continues to rise.
Innovations like the one described are usually based on collaborations. Scientific institutions, in particular, play a crucial role in this. Schwalbe is therefore very grateful for its proximity to important research institutions. "
For example, we have a long-standing cooperation and research partnership with the Cologne University of Applied Sciences," reports Jüngst. A current employee was also involved in the tire recycling project, having focused intensively on the topic in his master's thesis and subsequent doctoral dissertation at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. At the same time, the company values North Rhine-Westphalia as a recruitment base. "We are growing continuously and will continue to need well-trained specialists in the future, whom we almost always find in North Rhine-Westphalia."
The need for collaboration with research will not diminish. "With the first tire model without industrial carbon black, we have achieved a milestone; more are to follow," emphasizes Jüngst. Furthermore, the company would like to increase the proportion of recycled inner tubes used in its production from 20 percent.
This success story of an innovative transformation was published in August 2023. No updates or reviews of the information have taken place since then.
“We are growing continuously and will continue to need well-trained specialists in the future, whom we almost always find in North Rhine-Westphalia.”
The publication series “Transformation through Innovation” aims to illustrate how companies in North Rhine-Westphalia have been able to write successful innovation stories thanks to the framework conditions created by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
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