For the fourth straight year, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index included Nokian Tyres as one of the most sustainable publicly traded companies in the world. The tiremaker lists sustainability as a core value alongside safety and recently announced the next step in its Journey to a Safer World initiative: introducing a concept tire made completely from renewable and recycled materials by the year 2025.
"Green facilities, eco-friendly tires and ambitious environmental programs highlighted Nokian Tyres’ sustainability efforts in 2020, a year in which the tiremaker strengthened its reputation as a sustainability leader in the industry," officials said. "From green building certifications to tires with low rolling resistance to planting tens of thousands of trees, Nokian Tyres reduced its environmental footprint in North America last year, even as it expanded its presence in the regional tire market through increased production volume and a growing product mix.
North America has been the epicenter of many of Nokian Tyres’ sustainability achievements in 2020 and the early part of 2021. Milestones in the region and beyond include:
- LEED v4 Gold certification at its Dayton factory
The solar-powered administration building at Nokian Tyres’ new North American factory earned LEED v4 Gold certification in early 2021, and the production building was the first tire production facility in the industry to earn LEED v4 Silver certification. The complex’s three-megawatt solar array creates enough energy to fuel the admin building and a portion of the production process.
- A 99 percent recycle and reuse rate at the Dayton factory
Nokian Tyres reused or recycled 99 percent of production waste at its Southeast Tennessee campus, which is on the road to being a zero-waste facility.
- 50,000 trees planted throughout the United States
Nokian Tyres partnered with POWDR to plant 50,000 trees in Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Vermont in areas impacted by wildfires and deforestation. The partners agreed to the tree-planting partnership last year with One Tree Planted, which is planting the trees this spring.
- More than 1.1 billion pounds of CO2 emissions eliminated since 2013
By reducing the rolling resistance of its tires, Nokian Tyres has reduced global CO2 emissions by more than 1.1 billion pounds since 2013. Ninety-two percent of the company’s products rank in the lowest three rolling resistance categories, including the new Nokian Tyres One, a North American passenger tire the company launched in January.
"Nokian Tyres plans to continue serving as an industry sustainability leader. The company was the first tiremaker to have its emissions reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, a global effort to prevent the most damaging effects of climate change. Since 2013, the company has reduced its CO2 emissions from production by one-third," officials said.