SMX, Continental announce markers to ensure tire supply chain transparency

Continental and SMX Public Limited Company have succeeded for the first time in verifying a marker substance for natural rubber in a tire and so throughout the entire production process. The dedicated marker technology, which both companies optimized for use in natural rubber, is designed to create greater transparency along the entire value chain of tires and technical rubber products from Continental. "We see huge potential in marker technology. It will help us in the future to ensure that the natural rubber we use in our tires is grown and sourced entirely responsibly," says Claus Petschick, Head of Sustainability at Continental Tires. "Over the long term, we believe that marker technology could help to make the sometimes highly complex processes in our supply chains more transparent and verifiable. With Security Matters, we have by our side an innovative tech platform for the development and trialing of marker technology." In the successfully completed field test, the marker substance underwent and passed a real test of resilience. The substance was added to responsibly grown latex during harvesting and withstood not only the intensive preparations involved in the production of natural rubber but also the tire manufacturing process itself.