Hankook Tire participates in ISCC PLUS Conference to prepare for an eco-friendly future

- Hankook Tire will discuss the circular economy and sustainability at the conference hosted by ISCC PLUS, an international certification for global eco-friendly materials.
- It will share its eco-friendly management strategies and activities, and Hankook Tire’s innovative technology, including its eco-friendly product iON designed exclusively for electric vehicles.
- Hankook Tire is pursuing several company-wide projects to achieve sustainability management and reduce carbon emissions.

Seoul, Korea, January 24, 2024 – Global leading tire company Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) on Jan 23 will attend the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS Conference held at the Hotel Naru M Gallery, in Seoul, Korea.

The conference is designed to introduce ISCC PLUS, an international certification scheme for global eco-friendly materials, and to discuss the sustainability certifications for Korea’s circular and bio-economy. It holds significance as the first conference on such topics, amid the expansion of certifications in the areas of bio-based raw materials, petrochemicals, and tires.

At the conference, Hankook Tire will give a presentation under the theme of ‘Sustainable Material Technology and ISCC PLUS Certification,’ sharing the achievements of the ISCC PLUS certification as well as its eco-friendly management strategies. It will also share a plan to build a circular economic model and the results of carbon emission reduction activities by applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to the entire cycle, from supplying raw materials to manufacturing, transportation, use, disposal, and reuse.

Additionally, Hankook Tire will introduce iON, a tire designed exclusively for electric vehicles. The presentation will discuss the company’s ongoing efforts to develop a conceptual model with 70% eco-friendly materials and another product incorporating 45% eco-friendly materials aimed for mass production. Particularly, Hankook Tire will actively promote the industry-leading technology in sustainability, which the company is focusing on. The plans include supplying ‘iON,’ the electric vehicle racing tire that increases the proportion of eco-friendly materials from 29% to 35%, in next season’s ‘ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.’

Hankook Tire has been pursuing several company-wide projects to achieve sustainability management and reduce carbon emissions. Last November, the company hosted the official kick-off meeting for the ‘Tire-to-Tire Circular Economy Model’ consortium to create a business model for the circular economy of end-of-life tires in Korea, and last May, it signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd (KKPC) for the development of eco-friendly tires.

Based on the eco-friendly circular economy framework “E.Circle,” Hankook Tire has been actively striving to develop sustainable products by applying four principles – Recycle, Renew, Reuse, and Reduce – throughout the entire production process and by exploring more opportunities in sustainable materials, expanding its selection from the initial three to a total of 17.

ISCC PLUS is a system that complies with the European Union’s renewable energy guidelines, with transparent assessments and rigorous validation conducted throughout the entire process, from raw materials and production to final products. This has boosted its level of credibility, making it the most reliable in the field of eco-friendly certifications, with around 130 eco-friendly raw material manufacturers, NGOs, and research institutions worldwide enrolled as members. In 2021, Hankook Tire’s Geumsan plant in Korea became the first in the tire industry to obtain the certification, followed by the company’s Hungary plant which got certified in October last year