{"id":177323,"date":"2026-06-01T07:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T05:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=177323"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:46:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:46:34","slug":"start-ups-as-drivers-of-innovation-in-the-tire-circular-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/start-ups-as-drivers-of-innovation-in-the-tire-circular-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Start-ups as drivers of innovation in the tire circular economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Allianz Zukunft Reifen (AZuR) is further expanding its unique European network for a sustainable circular tire economy – and is specifically focusing on networking innovative\u00a0start-ups<\/a>\u00a0with established industry partners. While the young founders contribute fresh ideas, technologies and business models, they also benefit from the interdisciplinary exchange and expertise of over 80 European network partners. New partnerships with renowned companies and global corporations such as Siemens AG (Digital Industries) also underline the growing importance and appeal of AZuR.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\u00a9 2026 CGW GmbH<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

AZuR baut sein europaweit einzigartiges Netzwerk f\u00fcr eine nachhaltige Reifen-Kreislaufwirtschaft weiter aus \u2013 und setzt dabei gezielt auf die Vernetzung innovativer Start-ups mit etablierten Industriepartnern. W\u00e4hrend die jungen Gr\u00fcnder frische Impulse, Technologien und Gesch\u00e4ftsmodelle einbringen, profitieren sie gleichzeitig vom interdisziplin\u00e4ren Austausch und der Expertise der \u00fcber 80 europ\u00e4ischen Netzwerkpartner. Neue Partnerschaften mit renommierten Unternehmen und global agierenden Konzernen wie der Siemens AG (Digital Industries)  unterstreichen zugleich die wachsende Bedeutung und Strahlkraft von AZuR<\/strong>.     <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start-ups as drivers of innovation in the tire circular economy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

AZuR partner Bear-Machines provides an outstanding example of what is possible as a start-up in the tire recycling industry – a young company that was born out of an idea in innovative mechanical engineering and is already one of the driving forces in the industry after just a few months. With the semi-automatic BEAR-CUT re-profiling machine, the founders have developed a practical innovation that significantly extends the service life of commercial vehicle tires, saves resources and reduces CO\u2082 emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Dutch start-up AKIN, AZuR welcomes an innovative technology partner on board who is opening up new avenues in the material recycling of used tires. With “Rubber BioRefine”, the young company is developing a platform that makes biotechnological processes specifically usable for the recycling of rubber and thus makes an important contribution to the further development of the tire circular economy. The aim is to convert used tire components that were previously difficult to recycle into high-quality raw materials of primary raw material quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The start-up CO2OPT offers fleet operators and vehicle fleets a data-based platform for optimizing tire management and fleet operations, which uses AI and telematics data to identify the optimal tires and strategies and digitize operational processes. As a result, fleets benefit from up to 10% lower fuel costs and CO\u2082 emissions, greater efficiency, transparent management and demonstrable sustainability effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solid Plant develops innovative, bio-based fillers as a sustainable alternative to fossil raw materials. The materials can be used in the tire and plastics industry and help to significantly reduce the use of petrochemical components. With its approach, the start-up supports the transformation towards fossil-free production and strengthens the development of sustainable, resource-saving material solutions in the AZuR network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GATA Prolysis relies on pyrolysis processes to thermally convert used tires into valuable secondary raw materials such as pyrolysis oil, recycled carbon black and gas in the absence of oxygen and return them to industrial value chains. In this way, the start-up contributes to closing material cycles, reducing CO\u2082 emissions and substituting fossil raw materials in the tire and chemical industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong new industry partners underline the growing relevance of AZuR<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the start-ups, the number of established partners is also growing continuously. Particularly noteworthy is the accession of SIEMENS AG (Digital Industries) in April 2026. The global technology company is involved in the AZuR network with clear strategic goals: to accelerate a sustainable, ethical and digital tire value chain. Siemens wants to use the AZUR partnership to expand its ecosystem in this segment of the tire industry. On the one hand, this involves more efficient manufacturing processes and data collection along the entire life cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A particular focus is on the end-of-life segment of tires. Here, SIEMENS is contributing its expertise in the areas of digitalization, data acquisition and process optimization. The digital solutions from SIEMENS enable better project planning and more efficient operation of plants for recycling or retreading. SIEMENS also offers products for data-based tire tracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AZuR’s new partner matteco develops and produces high-quality elastomer products from recycled tire flour and uses used tires as a secondary raw material in durable applications in the construction and industrial sectors. By using over 95% recycled material, making the products fully recyclable and achieving significant CO\u2082 and resource savings, matteco makes an important contribution to the high-quality, circular use of used tires and the substitution of fossil raw materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granuband B.V. from the Netherlands specializes in processing used tires into high-quality rubber granules and powders. The company supplies international markets with sustainable secondary raw materials for applications in sport, infrastructure and industry. As an AZuR partner, Granuband brings many years of experience in mechanical recycling and international perspectives to the alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

InnoZent OWL e.V. is an innovative network from East Westphalia-Lippe that brings together companies, research institutions and start-ups across all sectors. The aim is to accelerate innovation processes and actively shape technology transfer. As a new AZuR partner, InnoZent OWL provides valuable impetus for the networking of science and practice in the tire recycling industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These examples illustrate how a strong idea can become a market-relevant solution – supported by the network of industry, science and practice. Initiatives such as the “Loop the Tyre 2026” competition also offer the opportunity to make innovations visible and provide targeted support for start-ups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unique network as the key to transformation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The combination of young, innovative start-ups and strong industry partners is AZuR’s particular strength. It enables new technologies to be put into practice more quickly, synergies to be exploited and solutions for a functioning circular economy to be developed together. As current figures show, there is a great need for action: in Europe alone, around 3.4 million tons of used tires are generated every year. At the same time, only some of these have so far been kept in the recycling loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Future Tire Alliance therefore consistently pursues the goal of keeping 100 percent of tires in the cycle through repair, re-profiling, retreading and mechanical and chemical recycling. The growing number of partners – from start-ups to globally active technology groups – shows that this approach is increasingly gaining broad support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working together for a sustainable future<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The AZuR network stands for a holistic transformation of the tire industry. Current developments make this clear: Innovation arises from the interaction of different players. With fresh ideas from the start-up scene and the innovative strength of established companies, AZuR is further expanding its role as a central platform for the sustainable circular tire economy – and sending a strong signal for the future of the circular economy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allianz Zukunft Reifen (AZuR) is further expanding its unique European network for a sustainable circular tire economy – and is specifically focusing on networking innovative\u00a0start-ups\u00a0with established industry partners. While the young founders contribute fresh ideas, technologies and business models, they also benefit from the interdisciplinary exchange and expertise of over 80 European network partners. New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":177321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"AZuR networks innovative start-ups with established industry partners","footnotes":""},"categories":[17143],"tags":[10416,13461,10453,14268],"supplier":[27386,27990,27991,27992,608],"class_list":["post-177323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recycling","tag-circulareconomy","tag-pyrolysis","tag-recycling","tag-tires","supplier-azur-netzwerk","supplier-granuband","supplier-innozent-owl-e-v","supplier-matteco","supplier-siemens-ag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177324,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177323\/revisions\/177324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177323"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=177323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}