Bridgestone World Solar Challenge to feature ENLITEN tires with 65%+ recycled & renewable content

Bridgestone Corporation announced this week that it will be supporting the 2025 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge with tires produced under the company's ENLITEN technology. Bridgestone will provide the tires to 33 teams in 17 locations. The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is a solar car event in which teams must travel 3,000 kilometers across Australia using only limited solar power. The event, which is held every other year, will take place August 24 to 31, 2025; teams will travel from Darwin on Australia's northern coast to Adelaide on the southern coast.

The ENLITEN tires provided for the event will feature over 65% renewable and recycled content, including recovered carbon black and steel. The recovered carbon black used in the tires is produced in cooperation with ENEOS Corporation through pyrolysis of end-of-life tires at Bridgestone's test unit at the Bridgestone Innovation Park in Kodaira City, Tokyo. The tires produced for the 2025 BWSC event will mark the first application of recovered carbon black produced at the test unit. The tires will also incorporate bead wire recycled from scrap tires through a cooperative agreement with Nippon Steel and Sanyo Special Steel. According to Bridgestone, the ENLITEN tires are specifically designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the BWSC race, offering low rolling resistance, durability, lightweight construction, and puncture resistance.