Nokian unveils all-natural Green Step concept tire

NOKIA, Finland—Nokian Tyres P.L.C. has unveiled a sustainable concept tire that is made with 93 percent recycled or renewable materials.

All rubber used in what is dubbed the "Green Step" tire is natural, while renewable oils such as canola oil is used for the processing of the rubber, said Nokian in a Jan. 26 statement.

The tire maker said that the one-year project to design and manufacture the winter tire involved further researching alternatives to natural rubber, including guayule. And almost all plasticizer, resin and processing aids used to produce Green Step were from renewable resources.

The tire maker also employed natural rice husk ash silica as the main filler for the tread and sidewall, and it used renewable cord fiber for the reinforcement of the tire.

"We learned new things with every innovation made for the concept tire," said Jouko Ilomaki, development manager at Nokian.

"For example, one of the most demanding tasks was to replace the synthetic rubber completely with natural rubber, which we achieved in the end," he added.

According to Nokian, almost every component of the Green Step includes some recycled materials.

For instance, the carbon black used in the rubber compounds was derived from end-of-life tires.

Additionally, the butyl used in the inner surface as well as the steel in the steel belts and bead wires in the structure were mainly derived from recycled sources.

"We believe that using recycled rubber and especially recycled carbon black will be a future trend in tire manufacturing," Ilomaki said.

Nokian, he said, will have "multiple new suppliers and new technology" for recovered carbon black by 2030, when the company aims to produce all tires with 50 percent sustainable materials.