Hankook Tire’s Daejeon Plant Receives International Sustainability Certification ‘ISCC PLUS’

- Achieves third ISCC PLUS certification following Geumsan and Hungary plants, expanding certification across key global manufacturing sites
- Develops and supplies official WRC rally tires using bio-circular polymers in place of fossil-based synthetic rubber
- Leads tire industry sustainability through collaborative development of sustainable materials via open innovation partnerships

Seoul, Korea, December 19, 2025 — Global leading tire company Hankook Tire & Technology (hereafter Hankook Tire) announced that its Daejeon Plant has received the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS, a global certification system for sustainable materials.

ISCC PLUS is a voluntary international certification system that verifies the sustainability of bio-based and recycled materials, as well as supply chain transparency. This certification marks Hankook Tire's third ISCC PLUS achievement. The company previously received certification for its Geumsan Plant in 2021, which was the first in the tire industry, and its Rácalmás Plant in Hungary in 2023. The milestone underscores the company’s continued ESG management efforts to expand manufacturing systems for products based on sustainable materials across its key global manufacturing hubs.

At the Daejeon Plant, Hankook Tire replaced fossil-based synthetic rubber with bio-circular polymers, significantly reducing the environmental footprint throughout the entire lifecycle, from raw material sourcing to product manufacturing, compared with conventional fossil-based materials. Through this achievement, the plant has met the stringent certification criteria of ISCC PLUS.

In particular, the high-performance rally tires Ventus and Dynapro, developed with up to 31 percent sustainable materials, including those certified under ISCC PLUS, will be supplied exclusively as the official rally tires for the 2025 season of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), one of the world’s premier motorsports competitions sponsored by Hankook Tire. This demonstrates Hankook Tire's top-tier motorsports technology on the global stage.

With the certification of the Daejeon Plant, Hankook Tire has established a sustainable product manufacturing system spanning original equipment and replacement tires as well as motorsports, reinforcing its leadership in global ESG initiatives. Since last year, the company has been supplying the iON evo, a high-performance tire featuring the industry’s first ISCC PLUS certification logo was imprinted on the sidewall, as an original equipment tire for the Porsche Taycan. Despite incorporating 45 percent recyclable and recycled materials based on the mass balance approach, the iON evo delivers performance that matches or exceeds conventional fossil-based products, meeting Porsche’s stringent performance and sustainability standards.

In June of the same year, Hankook Tire also launched the new iON GT in the European replacement market, increasing the share of ISCC PLUS-certified materials to up to 77 percent based on the mass balance approach. As the first electric vehicle–dedicated tire to achieve “Triple A” ratings under the EU Tire Label for covering rolling resistance, wet grip, and noise, the iON GT has demonstrated world-class performance standards.

During IAA Mobility 2025, the world-renowned automotive exhibition held in Munich, Germany, in September this year, Hankook Tire unveiled a concept product development case featuring 81 percent sustainable materials. This demonstration strengthened iON's market position as an innovative brand pioneering the future mobility ecosystem.

In addition, Hankook Tire serves as the exclusive racing tire supplier for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the world's premier electric vehicle racing series. Through its contributions to climate action and circular value chain development, the company earned the FIA's '3-Star Environmental Accreditation' last year. Building on this collaboration with the FIA, Hankook Tire is introducing the next-generation electric racing tire iON Race this year, which incorporates 35 percent sustainable materials and represents another step forward in advancing sustainable motorsports.

Hankook Tire is actively pursuing open innovation with global partners to further advance sustainable material substitution technologies. This year, the company has been promoting technical collaborations with ROTOBOOST to develop turquoise hydrogen-based carbon black and with Solvay to develop circular silica. Furthermore, Hankook Tire is actively participating in government-funded national research projects and domestic consortia to validate carbon-reduction technologies and expand the commercial viability of alternative materials.

Moving forward, Hankook Tire will continue advancing technological innovation based on its circular economy strategy, E.Circle. The company aims to reduce reliance on fossil-based resources, prevent natural resource depletion, and steadily lower carbon emissions, contributing to greater sustainability across the tire industry.