Nokian introduced the "birch" concept tire
Nokian Tyres has introduced the concept tire Nokian Betula, made using a material derived from birch bark, which was developed by the Swedish company Reselo, using waste from the pulp and paper and plywood industries.
Betula (the Latin name for birch) has become the first tire to be created using birch bark-based raw materials, and its inclusion in the rubber compound has allowed the proportion of eco-friendly materials in the tread to be increased to 93%. Nokian emphasizes that the use of new raw materials is primarily seen as a way to improve the operational characteristics of tires, and Betula with a pattern from the frictional winter model Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 was tested at the company's Finnish test sites in Ivalo and Nokia, where it "showed promising results".
According to Teemu Soini, Nokian's Vice President of Innovation and Development, the potential of the new material in terms of its use in the tire industry was evident from the start, and it can definitely be implemented in commercial tire production in the future. "The material is not only eco-friendly, but also, as our tests have shown, capable of improving tire performance," he noted.
The eco-friendliness of the material, of course, is also important, and Nokian says its use will help the company move closer to its goal of increasing the proportion of recycled and renewable raw materials in its tires to 50% by 2030.
Reselo CEO Josefin Larsson noted that the partnership with Nokian "represents something more than just a technological project". "The scale of the tire industry and its traditional conservatism make it difficult to implement innovations, but it also makes it vital to adopt new solutions for the rubber industry, so we are very proud that our collaboration with Nokian Tyres is moving to the next level," she said. "Birch bark is a widely available by-product of forestry in Northern European countries, and we are working step by step to create more efficient and eco-friendly products from it in accordance with the principles of a circular economy".
The collaboration between Nokian and Reselo was launched in 2023, when the biomaterials development company won the environmental competition Fast Race Big Change, organized by the tire manufacturer. In 2024, an agreement was signed to create raw materials for tire production, and after the premiere of the concept tire, the parties will continue their joint work.
Nokian notes that concept tires are an important part of the product development process, allowing the testing of new materials, technologies, and design ideas before serial production begins. In 2022, the company presented the Nokian Green Step concept tire, which consists of 93% "green" raw materials, and in 2024, the Nokian Green Step Ligna tire was developed, which has a rubber compound with a material based on lignin, an eco-friendly alternative to traditional technical carbon. Currently, the Nokian Seasonproof 2 all-season tire, released on the Central European market in 2025, has the highest content of eco-materials (38%) among the company's serial tires.