Acclaim for Nokian’s Green Step concept tyre
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Nokian take top honours in New Wood Competition
The Nokian Tyres Green Step Ligna concept tyre, a collaborative production partnership with UPM, secured top honours at the 2025 New Wood competition. This prestigious award recognises groundbreaking wood-based bioeconomy solutions that tackle global challenges and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
The award jury assessed entries on their societal importance, market potential and innovative use of wood, ultimately selecting a winner seen as a benchmark for the industry.
The Nokian concept tyre earned praise for making a concrete advance towards sustainable transport and materials production and serves as a powerful example of how ecological considerations can be integrated with high performance, offering a blueprint for other companies. Its core innovation involves a significant material substitution in the tyre's sidewall, where conventional fossil-based fillers are replaced with UPM BioMotion, a renewable filler derived from lignin.
With fillers determining a significant amount of a tyre's durability and performance and account for roughly a third of its mass, this shift is particularly impactful. Lignin is a natural compound abundant in wood and is generated as a by-product of pulp manufacturing.
Pauli Aalto-Setälä, a jury member of the New Wood 2025 competition states, “The successful application of this bio-based material in a demanding component like a tyre sidewall signals a pivotal shift for the entire industry, marking a substantial leap in the journey toward a future built on renewable resources. “Sometimes the most powerful innovations don’t alter the product itself, but the materials behind it – transform it into something truly sustainable.”
Martta Fredrikson, Chair of the New Wood competition jury, says, "This year, the utilisation of industrial side streams was particularly highlighted in the New Wood competition. The lignin-based tyre material that won the competition and the second-placed wood fibre insulation are excellent examples of this.”
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