Dandelions and Tires

Pedaling your bike through a dandelion field or hopping off to pick a few of the yellow buds sounds like an idyllic leisure time pursuit.

Tire made from dandelion rubber. (Image: Continental)

But what about using the wildflowers to make the tires?

That’s exactly what Continental is doing with its Urban Taraxagum bicycle treads. And the company eventually aims to spread the technology to a wide range of other applications, including passenger cars, commercial trucks, farm equipment and other rubber goods.

Why It Matters

Using dandelion roots in place of rubber derived from hevea brasiliensis (rubber trees), which mainly come from countries near the equator, enables local sourcing. This could substantially increase rubber supply and reduces the cost of shipping the material to tire plants around the world.

The dandelion rubber that Conti uses, for example, is cultivated, extracted and processed entirely in Germany.

The Russian dandelion (genus taraxcum), which can be imported to other regions, also is easier to grow and can be harvested in less than a year. It takes more than seven times that long to cultivate a rubber tree.

And compared with synthetic rubber—produced from petroleum—dandelions have clear environmental benefits.

What’s Next?

Conti and others have been developing the technology for years. Now the efforts are starting to pay off.

The supplier launched the bicycle pilot program last year and has since begun series production at its facility in Korbach, Germany, which the company claims is an industry first. For its efforts, Conti took home a German Sustainability Award this month for “responsible design.”

Adapting dandelion tires for cars is pretty straightforward, Conti says. But it still will take some time to test and validate the technology, the company notes, adding that applications for passenger vehicles likely won’t start until after 2025.

In the meantime, relax and enjoy the bike ride.