Nokian on target with CO2 reduction plans

Nokia, Finland - Nokian Tyres reduced CO2 emissions from production (scope 1 + scope 2 / production tonne)* by 40% last year, compared to 2015, in line with a targeted cut of over 50% by 2030, the company’s latest Sustainability Report shows.

In 2021, Nokian’s location-based scope 2 emissions from tire production were around 51,900 tonnes CO2 eq. – based on average emissions-intensity of power grids in Finland, Russia, and the US.

Direct greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1) were recorded at 360t CO2 eq in Finland last year, compared to 310t CO2 eq in heavily Covid impacted 2020 and 470 tonnes CO2 eq in 2019. These levels were significantly down on the 1,500 tonnes CO2 eq recorded in 2015.

The trends largely reflected factory outout levels: Nokian reported 'tire products' of 51 kilotonnes (kt) at its the Finland site in 2021, compared to 40.2kt and 51.8kt in 2020 and 2019 respectively.

Equivalent emission levels at Nokian’s Russian plant increased year-on-year in 2021: to 71,690 tonnes CO2 eq from 63,100 tonnes CO2 eq in 2020. In the US, emissions reached 5,620 tonnes CO2 eq in 2021 compared to the prior-year 3,200 tonnes CO2 eq.

In Russia, the tire product levels reached 172.2kt in 2021, compared to 136.3kt and 150.8kt in the two preceding years, while its new US site tire products totalled 8.9kt last year and 1.6kt in start-up year 2020.

Greenhouse gas emissions intensity ratio Scope 1 + Scope 2 (t CO2 eq /production t), therefore, fell from 0.24 to 0.17 in 2021 in Finland, from 0.57 to 0.5 in Russia, and from 3.0 to 0.91 at Nokian’s US plant.

Across the group, the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions intensity ratio decreased from 0.53 to 0.44 tonnes CO2 eq /production t.

Similarly, energy intensity, measured in GJ/production t, fell from 13.9 to 12.3 in Finland; from 11.3 to 9.5 in Russia and from 74.9 to 20.7 in the US.

Nokian said that at its factories, about 26% of all used energy is produced from renewable energy sources. In 2021, only electricity generated by wind and hydropower was procured for the Finnish facility, which also uses steam generated at a nearby biomass power plant.

*Scope 1 – All direct emissions from company activities or under its control. Including fuel combustion on site such as gas boilers, fleet vehicles and air-conditioning leaks. Scope 2 – Indirect emissions from electricity purchased and used by the organisation.

Nokian calculates tire- production greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from raw material purchasing to the disposal of the product.  As its Russia and US factories partly rely on own-power stations, direct GHG emissions exceed those at its Finnish operations.

In Finland, the emission calculation is based on the suppliers’ certificate of the actual energy sources used. In Russia and the US, emission calculations are based on emission factors of purchased electricity.