Nokian Tyres' Romania plant sets new benchmark for zero-emission tyre manufacturing
Nokian Tyres has developed what it claims is the world's first full-scale tyre factory with zero CO₂ emissions. From renewable electricity and electric steam boilers to circular material strategies and AI-driven manufacturing, the Oradea plant offers a blueprint for sustainable tyre production at industrial scale.
Zero emissions manufacturing – the stuff of dreams for plant directors and sustainability leads. No matter the sector, few companies have been able to fully realise the goal of eliminating CO2 emissions across production facilities, especially in full-scale factories that have enormous outputs and complex supply chains.
When it comes to tyres for the automotive industry, energy-intensive processes are traditionally at the heart of production, and the sourcing and processing of raw materials has a significant environmental impact. Many of the steps inside the factory require the generation of high temperatures to shape and cure the material, while other areas of production like cooling result in high water usage. Companies like Nokian Tyres have been exploring various ways in which to lower energy use and subsequently cut CO2 emissions at their manufacturing facilities. The Finnish tyre maker, best known for its specialist winter products, has recently bagged a sustainability certificate for its production in Romania, which it dubs the world’s first full-scale zero CO2 emissions tyre factory.
Awarding local efficiency
Nokian’s newest facility in Oradea, Romania, began delivering tyres in March 2025. It currently produces the Seasonproof 2 tyre – an all-season range that has a share of up to 38% renewable and recycled raw materials – and the new Snowproof 3P tyre – a premium product designed specifically for use in heavy snow, which was launched this March.
Speaking to AMS, Teppo Huovila, general director and vice president, quality and sustainability, Nokian Tyres, explains that the factory is already an important part of the company’s global footprint. “Nokian Tyres now operates one of the most modern and efficient manufacturing platforms in the tyre industry,” he says. “The new facility in Oradea, Romania, is a key step in supporting the company’s local-to-local business model, where products are manufactured closer to the customers and end-users. This helps to improve efficiency, customer service and responsiveness.”
By locating the factory in Oradea, Nokian Tyres is significantly closer to the Central and South European market than it was previously. This, adds Huovila, has vastly improved its delivery times and reinforced its supply chain, “making us less vulnerable” to both localised issues and global concerns. Proximity to market also helps the company reduce emissions across its transport and logistical operations.
But the defining factor of the factory at Oradea is its low operating impact. It recently became the first tyre factory in the world to obtain the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification – a building certification given by the US Green Building Council, signifying high energy efficiency and sustainable design. This is the fourth award that Nokian has been given for the factory, following the 2025 Award for Environmental Achievement of the Year – Industry Contribution at the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence, the Sustainable Manufacturing Award 2025 in Romania – Industry Tomorrow, and the Business Review’s Award for The Most Impactful Investment of the Year 2025 in Romania.
“The Nokian Tyres Oradea factory sets a new standard for tyre manufacturing,” Huovila states. “This is achieved through a combination of solutions,” but before outlining these, he describes the main processes that are typically involved in producing tyres for passenger cars.
Primary production steps
According to Huovila, there are five primary steps during automotive tyres production: mixing, component manufacturing, assembly, curing, and quality control. The process begins by selecting both natural and synthetic rubbers. These are blended with fillers, chemicals, and other additives in a mixer to create a homogeneous, rubber compound.
Components are prepared by using extrusion and calendaring. Heated rollers flatten the compound into uniform sheets with added reinforcement materials, such as spools of wire steel or threads of textile. Extruders are used to shape the material and create a tread before it is cooled through immersion techniques.
The third step is assembly, during which components are cut to length and fed into a tyre building machine. Once these ‘green tyres’ are ready, they are sprayed with a fluid to prepare for vulcanisation inside a mold-on curing press. Steam, raising the temperature and adding pressure triggers chemical reactions that make the rubber durable and elastic.
Finally, the tyres undergo rigorous inspections in the quality and control department. Visual checks carried out by human workers remain an important part of the process for Nokian Tyres, though these are completed in parallel with automated tests. A suite of high precision cameras is deployed, tasked with identifying tiny defects and imperfections across numerous stages of production.
Sourcing green electricity
Among the primary challenges of tyre production are the high energy costs, especially as several stages require the generation of high temperatures to work the rubber compound. Nokian is taking several approaches to lower its energy costs, including the adoption of renewable energy.
“All electricity used at the Romania Oradea factory is CO2-emission-free,” says Huovila. “Part of the electricity used in the factory is generated by on-site solar power units. We have also signed a long-term contract with renewable energy provider Enery to ensure zero-CO2-emissions energy for the factory.”
Headquartered in Austria, Enery builds and develops renewable energy plants throughout Central and Eastern Europe. It recently secured €460m (US$542m) in funding to construct a new photovoltaic (PV) generation facility in Giurgiu County, Romania. The site will have a capacity of 761 MWp / 534 MW AC, and more than 1 GWh of battery storage, making it one of the largest hybrid renewable energy projects in Europe. Once operational, electricity from this new facility will be used to power Nokian’s Oradea factory. The plant is expected to generate enough green electricity to power the equivalent of approximately 684,000 households and avoid around 303,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.
As well as obtaining green energy from source, Nokian also looked into each process inside the Oradea factory in order to cut energy use and emissions. Huovila highlights vulcanisation as the most energy-intensive part of tyre manufacturing as it requires the use of steam boilers that heat the tyre to around 300 degrees fahrenheit, hardening the rubber during the final stage before quality control.
“Steam used to cure the tires is generated by innovative electric boilers which use fully CO2-emissions-free electricity instead of the usual fossil fuels,” he emphasises. “In addition, the tyre manufacturing process in general is very energy efficient – we are only utilising the most modern technology and machinery.”
Readying for recycling
Other challenges involved in the tyre manufacturing process include the need to source sustainable and eco-friendly materials and the management of waste material. The traditional fillers used are mainly carbon black and silica, which are produced from fossil fuels – primarily petroleum-based oil and coal tar. But companies like Nokian are consistently examining potential replacements that are more eco-friendly.
Nokian also claims it was the first in the industry to stop using HA (high-aromatic) oils in production, which are also produced using fossil fuels, replacing them with rapeseed and tall oils. Furthermore, the company also says that it has been re-using 100% of waste material from its production processes since 2022, sending none of it to landfill.
End-of-life management also presents difficulties for tyre manufactures. Huovila confirms that Nokian’s plan is to increase its use of recycled materials to 50% by 2030, using recovered carbon black from old tyres to produce new ones. However, the recycling process is complex due to the mixing of chemicals, compounds and various elements like steel and textiles.
“Nokian Tyres is actively looking for ways to increase the use of both recycled and renewable raw materials,” Huovila notes. “Many such experimental materials are tested every year. As tyres are safety critical products, all new material candidates must be tested thoroughly to ensure performance level is kept the same or improved with new raw materials.”
To help minimise the challenge, tyres must be designed with recyclability in mind from the get-go. But, as safety is paramount, full scale end-of-life recycling is still a work in process.
Sustainability through digitalisation
Like all manufacturing plants, the processes in tyre factories are consistently evolving with the use of AI and digital tools. Data-driven manufacturing is a key area of exploration in Nokian’s five-year ‘FUTUREPROOF’ research programme, and Huovila believes that it could lead to greener production.
“Our FUTUREPROOF research, development and innovation program confronts the key challenges of future mobility through solutions related to the digitalisation of tyres and traffic, sustainable product lifecycle and advanced manufacturing technologies,” he explains. “It crosslinks industries to join the common cause to futureproof traffic and tires with innovations across business, process, and technical domains.”
Funded by Business Finland, the programme aims to drive significant sustainability advancements and green transitions in the tyre industry. As well as the development of “smart tyres”, Huovila explains that the programme is helping push the use of AI to enhance automation and data utilisation in the factory, “all with the aim of zero-emissions production.” Certain outcomes from these streams are likely to be scaled in the Oradea factory, he adds.
