CEAT has come out with a tyre the likes of which didn’t exist in our market before—dubbed SecuraDrive CIRCL; these tyres are made out of bio-based alternative materials rather than traditional ones. The tyres will initially come in one size of 215/55 R17 and two varieties namely CIRCL 50 and CIRCL 90 with 50 and 90 percent bo-based materials in them respectively. The price of the CIRCL 50 is ₹8,999 while that of the CIRCL 90 is ₹12,999. CEAT also stated that it will introduce more sizes going forward.
This new tyres utilises a combination of recycled and renewable materials, in differing ratios for the two varieties–the CIRCL 50 uses 5 percent recycled material and 45 percent renewable material, whereas the CIRCL 90 manages a whopping 69 percent renewable material, which is supplemented by 21 percent recycled material. CEAT states that there is not discernible difference in the performance of the CIRCL tyres with other, conventional tyres from the manufacturer.
The CIRCL tyres use old plastic bottles for creation of the tyre fabric, part of the carcass is made from recycled rubber and recovered carbon black, while old tyres also act as donor material for the steel belts. The CIRCL tyres also make use technologies like a unified inner liner using a bipolymer-based recipe which significantly reduces the carbon footprint during manufacturing; a patented conductive layer to stop build up of static electricity (usually achieved by carbon black); and finally, glycerol is used as an accelerator for tyre curing, which is also an industry-first, according to CEAT.
While many manufacturers have showcased concepts of highly eco-friendly tyres, CEAT has brought those tyres to market in a road-ready condition, that consumers can actually purchase at dealerships. We feel this is a step in the right direction and a great initiative by CEAT, particularly when the whole world is trying to be more green.
