Tyre company Bridgestone has announced that it will be supporting the 2025 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC) with its Enliten technology tyres, which feature the first application of new recycled materials developed through co-creation with partners, increasing the ratio of recycled and renewable materials to over 65%. The company will supply these tyres to 33 teams from 17 locations.
The BWSC, which will take place in August, is said to be the world’s foremost solar car event. Held every two years, participants are challenged with traversing approximately 3,000 km across the Australian continent using only limited solar power.
Bridgestone has been the title sponsor of BWSC since 2013.
For the 2025 BWSC, Bridgestone will supply tyres with Enliten technology, which ensures the performance required for solar cars while further advancing sustainability.
For the first time, Bridgestone has applied recovered carbon black and steel, which are recycled materials developed and produced through co-creation efforts focused on advancing recycling technology that ‘renews’ tyres to raw materials.
Furthermore, the company adds it is evolving its sustainability initiatives throughout the value chain, such as reducing the number of tyres used and introducing low-carbon tyre shipment for contributing to a circular economy and carbon neutrality.
In 2023, the company introduced a test unit at the Bridgestone Innovation Park in Kodaira City, Tokyo, and has been further developing technology to obtain recovered carbon black, etc. through the precise pyrolysis of end-of-life tyres in collaboration with Eneos Corporation. Bridgestone has made the first application of the recovered carbon black obtained at its own test unit for 2025 BWSC tyres.
Since 2022, Bridgestone has been collaborating with Nippon Steel Corporation and Sanyo Special Steel Co to promote the recycling of end-of-life tyres in alignment with their shared vision for a circular economy. In a first for BWSC tyres, the company has incorporated bead wire, a reinforcement material for tyres, made from recycled steel obtained from end-of-life tyres collected at the Bridgestone Tire Recycle Center Osaka. The recycled steel is obtained from end-of-life tyres in Sanyo Special Steel’s electric furnace, and then is rolled and heat-treated to bead wire at Nippon Steel’s facility.
The tyres for the 2025 BWSC will equip the Enliten technology, continuing from the previous event, achieving a high level of both environmental performance and tyre performance. Through co-creation with partners, Bridgestone has enhanced environmental performance that contributes to sustainability by applying new recycled resources mentioned above, as well as the new aramid material Twaron 6 with circular content by Teijin Aramid.
At the same time, the tyres ensure low rolling resistance, durability, lightweight construction, and puncture resistance required for solar cars.
For BWSC tyre shipment, Bridgestone is working with DHL, utilising its GoGreen Plus solution. By using sustainable maritime fuel, it enables to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 85% across the entire lifecycle (Well-to-Wake) of fuel production, transportation, storage, and onboard usage, achieving low carbon shipment.