Nexen Tire is a South Korea-based global tyre manufacturer, the country’s second-largest tyre producer, operating four production plants in Korea (Yangsan, Changnyeong), China (Qingdao), and the Czech Republic (Žatec), with a combined capacity scaling toward 50 million units across all sites by end of 2025. The company published its 2024/25 Sustainability Report in June 2025, covering for the first time consolidated performance metrics from 10 global subsidiaries and third-party verified GHG inventory data spanning all 15 Scope 3 categories under the GHG Protocol. Nexen’s sustainability framework is structured across five domains: Environment, People, Shared Growth, Social Contribution, Ethics, and Governance, governed by a Sustainability Management Committee led by the Chief Operating Officer.
Nexen secured SBTi approval for its near-term GHG reduction targets in September 2025, joining SBTi in 2024 and earning approval in September 2025 for both Scope 1 and 2 and Scope 3 targets aligned with a 1.5°C scenario. The company received the EcoVadis Gold Medal for the second consecutive year in July 2025, placing it in the top 3% of all companies assessed globally, with outstanding ratings in Environment, Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement.
Source
https://www.nexentire.com/international/company/esg_report/
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-releases-2024-25-sustainability-report–strengthens-esg-commitments-across-global-operations
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-secures-sbti-approval-for-greenhouse-gas-reduction-targets
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-receives-ecovadis-gold-rating-for-second-consecutive-year
Sustainability Strategy and Goals
Nexen’s sustainability strategy aligns with relevant UN SDGs and the principles of the UN Global Compact (UNGC), which the company joined in 2023, committing to the UNGC’s 10 principles on human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption. The strategy is built on a Net-Zero Roadmap established under the SBTi 1.5°C scenario in 2024, staged through near-term 2034 milestones and a long-term 2050 carbon neutrality commitment, and is governed by the Sustainability Management Committee chaired by the COO with Board-level ESG oversight. The 2024/25 report marks the first year Nexen has applied TNFD and LEAP framework guidance for nature-related risk disclosure, placing biodiversity formally into its enterprise risk architecture for the first time.
Net Zero and Carbon Emissions
Nexen targets a 58.8% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2034 from a 2023 baseline, and a 35% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by the same target year, with both targets SBTi-validated and aligned with 1.5°C pathway science. These are the most recently approved SBTi targets in the five-manufacturer series covered in this report suite, confirmed in September 2025.
- Total Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions in 2024 were 362,361 metric tonnes CO2e, an increase of 6.82% versus 2023, driven in part by the ramp-up of the Czech Republic Plant 2, which commenced production in December 2023 and adds manufacturing energy demand across the network.
- Scope 1 emissions increased 14.28% year-on-year in 2024, reflecting the direct combustion demand of the new Czech plant coming online, a temporary trajectory inversion consistent with Nexen’s capacity expansion cycle.
- Scope 2 GHG emissions were 210,023 tCO2e on a market-based basis and 282,124 tCO2e on a location-based basis in 2024, confirming that Nexen has begun using energy attribute certificates in some markets, with the gap between location-based and market-based figures showing the scope of the current renewable procurement effort.
- Total Scope 3 GHG emissions were 17,365,553 tCO2e in 2024, of which approximately 93.07% originated from downstream activities such as product use, distribution, and end-of-life treatment, with 6.93% from upstream activities including purchased goods and capital goods.
- Nexen completed a third-party verified GHG inventory in 2024/25 covering Scope 1 through all 15 Scope 3 categories, a disclosure milestone that positions Nexen for the supplier scoring and OEM sustainability requirements that European automakers are implementing under CSRD-driven value chain reporting.
Water Stewardship
Nexen manages water across its four production sites with a focus on minimising withdrawal intensity, maintaining wastewater compliance, and assessing water-related physical risks at each operational location under the TNFD framework.
- Nexen’s 2024/25 Sustainability Report expands water risk assessment to include physical climate risks at all production sites under the TNFD LEAP framework, incorporating hydrology and water stress exposure into the company’s formal enterprise risk register for the first time.
- The Changnyeong plant in South Korea, which operates adjacent to ecologically sensitive freshwater zones, is specifically covered under Nexen’s biodiversity and nature-related risk management programme, with a detailed ecological survey conducted covering a 50-kilometre radius.
- Nexen’s Environmental Management Policy, publicly available, commits the company to reducing water consumption per unit of production annually and to full compliance with national and local wastewater discharge regulations across all sites.
Regenerative Agriculture
Nexen is a member of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) and has published a Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy that covers deforestation prevention, community protection, ecosystem restoration, and full supply chain traceability aligned with GPSNR policy components and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
- Nexen’s Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy explicitly demands the protection and restoration of natural forests and ecosystems, rare and endangered species, and compliance with human rights principles across all levels of the natural rubber supply chain from plantation to production.
- Nexen implements supply chain assessments and partner training programmes to support compliance with the Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy across all sourcing geographies, covering both tier-1 traders and further upstream plantation suppliers.
- Nexen has cultivated forests for biodiversity as part of its social contribution programme, integrating terrestrial ecosystem restoration into its community engagement activities alongside carbon sequestration benefit.
Deforestation and Biodiversity
Nexen expanded its biodiversity management to adopt TNFD and LEAP framework guidance in 2024/25, the same year as Hankook’s first TNFD disclosure, establishing the two Korean manufacturers as the first movers in TNFD-aligned reporting among tyre manufacturers below the top-four global group.
- Nexen conducted a detailed ecological survey around its Changnyeong plant in 2024, identifying protected zones, endangered species habitats, and ecological corridors within a 50-kilometre radius, providing the baseline data required for nature-positive site management.
- Nexen’s Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy explicitly prohibits sourcing from areas where deforestation, groundwater contamination, or soil degradation has occurred, with a formal demand for forest and ecosystem protection embedded in its supplier compliance requirements.
- As a GPSNR member, Nexen applies the April 1, 2019 GPSNR deforestation cutoff date for all natural rubber sourcing, aligning with the EU Deforestation Regulation baseline date and ensuring EUDR-readiness in its supply chain documentation.
Packaging and Circular Economy
Nexen’s circular economy strategy targets 70% sustainable material content in its tyres through proprietary material technology under development, supported by a long-term rCB supply agreement with LD Carbon signed in May 2025 and an active evaluation programme covering 23 renewable and recycled material types across 10 material categories. The company’s demonstration tyre at 52% sustainable materials, presented in 2023, established the first commercial-level proof-of-concept milestone, and the 70% proprietary technology confirmed in the 2024/25 ESG Report sets the next commercial target.
- Nexen signed a long-term supply agreement with LD Carbon in May 2025 for rCB derived from ELT pyrolysis in oxygen-free conditions, covering supply to production facilities in China, Czech Republic, and Korea and creating a multi-geography circular carbon black procurement infrastructure.
- The 52% sustainable material demonstration tyre presented in 2023 incorporates 44% renewable materials (natural rubber, bio-based synthetic rubber, rice husk silica) and 8% recycled materials (recycled PET polyester cord from plastic bottles and EAF bead wire from scrap iron).
- Nexen’s 2024/25 ESG Report confirms proprietary technology capable of producing tyres with up to 70% sustainable content, using bio-oil and recycled PET cord as primary new inputs beyond the 2023 demonstration tyre materials.
- Nexen is currently evaluating 23 renewable and recycled material types across 10 material categories, the broadest active sustainable material assessment pipeline among Korean tyre manufacturers and comparable to Goodyear’s 17-material demonstration tyre scope.
- The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which will mandate minimum sustainable material content in tyres, is explicitly cited by Nexen as a strategic driver for its rCB programme and circular material transition timeline.
Human Rights and Responsible Sourcing
Nexen’s human rights management is formally embedded in both its ESG framework and its Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy, aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the ILO Fundamental Conventions. Nexen joined the UN Global Compact in 2023, formalising its commitment to UNGC’s 10 principles as a reporting obligation to UNGC stakeholders.
- Nexen’s EcoVadis Gold Medal for the second consecutive year in July 2025 included outstanding evaluations specifically in Human Rights, with the company commended for aligning its human rights policy with UN and ILO standards and for introducing formal human rights assessments into its risk management framework.
- Nexen’s Sustainable Procurement score improved between 2024 and 2025 EcoVadis assessments through ESG supplier audits, proactive risk response strategies, and expanded supplier engagement, bringing Nexen into the top 3% of all EcoVadis-assessed companies for procurement sustainability.
- Nexen’s Ethics pillar score improved through strengthened internal systems for risk prevention, monitoring, and mitigation, confirming systematic governance improvements in anti-corruption and compliance management.
Community and Social Impact
Nexen’s community impact is concentrated in South Korea (Yangsan, Changnyeong), the Czech Republic (Žatec), and China (Qingdao), with site-specific programmes aligned to local ecological and social priorities.
- Nexen conducted biodiversity and ecological surveys around its Changnyeong plant in South Korea in 2024/25, documenting species habitats and protected ecological zones, and using the survey data to guide community land management partnerships in the surrounding region.
- Nexen hosted its Purple Summit 2025 global partner event in Munich, Germany, in April 2025, engaging approximately 50 partners across Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America in a strategic alignment process that integrates ESG positioning with commercial brand building through the FC Bayern München sponsorship platform.
- Nexen’s forest cultivation programme, conducted as a social contribution activity, supports terrestrial biodiversity restoration and local employment in green land management in the communities around its Korean production sites.
Governance and Transparency
Nexen’s governance structure includes a Board-level ESG oversight function, a Sustainability Management Committee chaired by the COO, and a Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE) team responsible for operational environmental compliance. The 2024/25 Sustainability Report is Nexen’s sixth consecutive annual ESG publication, with consistent GRI Standard alignment since 2020 and progressive expansion of disclosure scope.
- Nexen’s 2024/25 Sustainability Report is the first to consolidate performance metrics from all 10 global subsidiaries, resolving a prior partial-reporting boundary that excluded non-manufacturing international operations from group-level disclosure.
- Nexen’s SBTi approval in September 2025 provides the first independent scientific validation of its GHG reduction targets, confirming that its 58.8% Scope 1 and 2 and 35% Scope 3 reduction commitments by 2034 are consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
- EcoVadis Gold Medal for the second consecutive year (top 3% globally) provides third-party confirmation across all four EcoVadis pillars: Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement, covering the full ESG management framework.
Technology and Innovation
Nexen’s sustainable technology portfolio is centred on five active programmes: rice husk ash silica as a renewable silica input, bio-circular synthetic rubber from bio-oil, recycled PET cord via mechanical and chemical recycling, EAF-process steel bead wire, and rCB from ELT pyrolysis via the LD Carbon long-term supply agreement.
- Nexen’s proprietary technology for tyres at 70% sustainable content combines bio-oil-derived synthetic rubber and recycled PET cord as principal new inputs beyond the existing 52% demonstration tyre materials, providing a defined technology pathway for the gap between current demonstrated performance and the 70% commercial target.
- The long-term LD Carbon rCB supply agreement covers Korea, China, and Czech Republic production sites simultaneously, making it a multi-geography circular material procurement commitment rather than a single-site pilot.
- Nexen’s 52% sustainable material demonstration tyre (2023) integrates rice husk ash silica (part of the 44% renewable content) as the primary silica source, displacing conventional quartz-derived silica and demonstrating that the Solvay-developed renewable silica process is accessible to manufacturers below the top-four global tier.
- Nexen has confirmed development of a ‘Green Tire’ seal for commercially produced sustainable tyres, creating a consumer-facing certification mark to communicate sustainable material content at point of sale.
- Nexen’s R&D centres in Korea, the U.S., China, and Germany support simultaneous sustainable material development across four geographic markets, enabling the company to respond to both the ESPR (EU) and OEM sustainable specification requirements from Korean, European, and Chinese automakers in parallel.
Global Partnerships and Advocacy
Nexen is a member of GPSNR, the UN Global Compact, and maintains commercial supply partnerships with global automakers as an OE tyre supplier since 2012. Its LD Carbon rCB agreement, FC Bayern sponsorship, and Purple Summit annual partner summit define the three main dimensions of its stakeholder engagement ecosystem.
- Nexen’s GPSNR membership formally embeds the company in the primary global natural rubber governance platform, aligning its deforestation policy, community standards, and supply chain traceability commitments with EUDR and OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains.
- Nexen’s long-term supply agreement with LD Carbon (May 2025) establishes a committed rCB procurement relationship covering three of its four global production geographies, creating the material supply chain infrastructure required to respond to ESPR mandatory sustainable content requirements when enacted.
- The Purple Summit 2025, attended by approximately 50 global partners in Munich, advances Nexen’s OE supply strategy and brand positioning in its core growth markets, using the FC Bayern München commercial partnership as a European premium brand platform that complements rather than replaces its ESG communication.
Source
https://www.nexentire.com/international/sustainability/growth/rubber_policy/index.php
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-secures-sbti-approval-for-greenhouse-gas-reduction-targets
https://tracenable.com/company/nexen-tire/ghg-emissions
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-receives-ecovadis-gold-rating-for-second-consecutive-year
https://tyre-trends.com/materials/nexen-tire-and-ld-carbon-sign-long-term-supply-agreement-for-recovered-carbon-black
https://www.nexentireusa.com/posts/nexen-tire-reveals-sustainable-material-demonstration-tire/
https://www.tyre-trends.com/news/nexen-tire-publishes-4th-annual-sustainability-report
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-releases-2024-25-sustainability-report–strengthens-esg-commitments-across-global-operations
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-successfully-hosts–purple-summit-2025–in-munich
https://www.tyre-trends.com/news/nexen-tire-sustainability-report-highlights-progress
Progress vs. Target Tracker
Source
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-secures-sbti-approval-for-greenhouse-gas-reduction-targets
https://tracenable.com/company/nexen-tire/ghg-emissions
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-releases-2024-25-sustainability-report–strengthens-esg-commitments-across-global-operations
https://tyre-trends.com/materials/nexen-tire-and-ld-carbon-sign-long-term-supply-agreement-for-recovered-carbon-black
https://www.nexentire.com/international/sustainability/growth/rubber_policy/index.php
Key Sustainability Innovations and Technologies
- 70% sustainable material proprietary technology: Nexen confirmed proprietary technology capable of producing tyres at up to 70% sustainable material content in its 2024/25 ESG Report, using bio-oil-derived synthetic rubber and recycled PET cord as the primary new inputs beyond the 52% demonstration tyre level. This places Nexen on a product innovation trajectory directly comparable to Hankook’s commercially produced 77% iON GT and Goodyear’s ISCC EDS at 70%+, demonstrating that mid-tier manufacturers are reaching the same sustainable material threshold as the top-four global group.
- Long-term LD Carbon rCB supply agreement (May 2025): Nexen’s long-term supply agreement with LD Carbon, signed in May 2025, secures rCB from ELT pyrolysis in oxygen-free conditions for production facilities in Korea, China, and Czech Republic simultaneously, creating the first multi-geography circular carbon black procurement infrastructure among Korean tyre manufacturers. The agreement directly responds to EU ESPR requirements for mandatory sustainable material content, establishing supply security before the regulation creates demand pressure across all European manufacturers.
- 52% sustainable material demonstration tyre: Nexen’s demonstration tyre presented in 2023, at 52% total sustainable content comprising 44% renewable and 8% recycled materials, integrates bio-based synthetic rubber, rice husk ash silica, recycled PET cord from plastic bottles, and EAF bead wire from scrap iron. All five material innovations in this tyre are independently available through third-party supply chains, demonstrating that Nexen’s sustainable material programme is not dependent on proprietary feedstock control, unlike some competitors whose circular material inputs depend on captive recycling infrastructure.
- TNFD LEAP biodiversity survey at Changnyeong: Nexen conducted a detailed ecological survey in 2024 covering the 50-kilometre radius around its Changnyeong plant, using the TNFD LEAP framework to identify protected zones, endangered species habitats, and ecological corridors. This is the first producer-level site biodiversity baseline among Korean tyre manufacturers and provides the scientific foundation for a nature-positive manufacturing commitment, establishing Nexen’s Changnyeong facility as the reference site for TNFD-aligned tyre plant biodiversity management in Asia.
- Green Tire seal for consumer-facing sustainability certification: Nexen is developing a commercially applied ‘Green Tire’ seal designed to communicate sustainable material content directly to consumers at point of sale, creating a visual certification mark on tyres that have met a defined sustainable material threshold. No other Korean tyre manufacturer has confirmed a consumer-facing sustainable product seal programme, and if commercialised in 2026, this would be the first independently certified consumer sustainability label on tyres sold in the Korean and European replacement market by a mid-tier manufacturer.
Source
https://www.nexentireusa.com/posts/nexen-tire-reveals-sustainable-material-demonstration-tire/
https://tyre-trends.com/materials/nexen-tire-and-ld-carbon-sign-long-term-supply-agreement-for-recovered-carbon-black
https://www.tyre-trends.com/news/nexen-tire-sustainability-report-highlights-progress
https://www.chemanalyst.com/NewsAndDeals/NewsDetails/nexen-tire-signs-long-term-deal-to-boost-sustainability-36542
Measurable Impacts
Nexen’s most independently verified sustainability impacts are in governance, disclosure quality, and procurement sustainability, confirmed by EcoVadis Gold for the second consecutive year (top 3% globally), SBTi approval in September 2025, and the first-ever full 15-category Scope 3 inventory with third-party verification in 2024/25. On product content, the 52% demonstration tyre (2023) and the 70% proprietary technology confirmation (2024/25) establish a credible product development progression even though a commercially available tyre at 70% has not yet been confirmed.
- Scope 1 and 2 total GHG emissions were 362,361 tCO2e in 2024, an increase of 6.82% versus 2023, driven by Czech Plant 2 ramp-up rather than operational inefficiency, with the baseline year for the SBTi target set at 2023.
- Scope 3 emissions of 17,365,553 tCO2e in 2024 are stable versus 2023, with full 15-category GHG Protocol coverage and third-party verification confirming completeness.
- EcoVadis progression from Bronze (2021) to Silver (2022, 2023) to Gold (2024, 2025) over five consecutive years demonstrates a systematic, multi-year governance improvement trajectory rather than a one-cycle performance optimisation.
- Nexen’s TNFD biodiversity survey at Changnyeong in 2024/25 is the first independently documented TNFD LEAP-aligned ecological baseline study by any Korean tyre manufacturer at production site level.
- The LD Carbon multi-geography rCB agreement (May 2025) creates circular material procurement infrastructure across three of four global production sites, confirming that Nexen’s circular economy commitment is operationally active in its supply chain rather than confined to demonstration tyre R&D.
Source
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-receives-ecovadis-gold-rating-for-second-consecutive-year
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-secures-sbti-approval-for-greenhouse-gas-reduction-targets
https://tracenable.com/company/nexen-tire/ghg-emissions
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-releases-2024-25-sustainability-report–strengthens-esg-commitments-across-global-operations
Challenges and Areas for Improvement
Scope 1 and 2 emissions growth in 2024 is Nexen’s most immediate operational challenge. Total Scope 1 and 2 emissions rose 6.82% in 2024 versus 2023, and Scope 1 alone rose 14.28%, driven by the Czech Plant 2 ramp-up. The SBTi 58.8% reduction target from the 2023 baseline by 2034 requires Nexen to not only absorb the additional manufacturing energy from Czech Plant 2 but to reduce total emissions significantly below the 2023 base within nine years. With Czech Plant 2 still ramping to its 5.5 million unit capacity by early 2026, the 2025 and 2026 emission figures are unlikely to improve materially before the plant reaches steady-state efficiency, making the 2027 to 2028 data the first genuine test of the SBTi trajectory.
The 70% sustainable material tyre remains without a confirmed commercial launch date. Nexen confirmed proprietary technology for 70% content in the 2024/25 ESG Report and a 52% demonstration tyre exists from 2023. There is a significant gap between confirming technology capability and delivering a commercially available, ISCC PLUS-certified product at 70%, and no launch timeline has been published as of March 2026. Competitors including Hankook (77% iON GT), Bridgestone (70% M870), and Goodyear (70%+ EDS) all have commercially confirmed products at this level, placing Nexen behind its stated ambition in the competitive product sustainability landscape.
RE100 ambition remains informal. Nexen stated it will “actively consider” RE100 application in 2023, but no confirmed RE100 membership, power purchase agreement, or renewable electricity procurement target has been published as of March 2026. The 2024/25 ESG Report’s Scope 2 market-based and location-based emissions comparison shows some renewable electricity procurement underway, but without a confirmed target or timeline, the renewable energy commitment sits below the standard set by Continental (RE100 member since 2020), Michelin, and Bridgestone (30.4% renewable in manufacturing by 2024).
Source
https://tracenable.com/company/nexen-tire/ghg-emissions
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-secures-sbti-approval-for-greenhouse-gas-reduction-targets
https://www.tyre-trends.com/news/nexen-tire-publishes-4th-annual-sustainability-report
https://www.nexentireusa.com/posts/nexen-tire-reveals-sustainable-material-demonstration-tire/
Future Plans and Long-Term Goals
Nexen’s 2050 carbon neutrality vision rests on three converging strategies: full deployment of the 23-material sustainable input evaluation programme into commercial production, full implementation of the SBTi 2034 milestone targets as the mid-century proof point, and a renewable energy transition that takes the company from its current partial renewable electricity position to RE100-equivalent coverage across all four manufacturing geographies. The 2034 SBTi milestones are structurally critical: 58.8% Scope 1 and 2 reduction and 35% Scope 3 reduction represent the largest percentage-point reductions committed by any manufacturer in this series for their near-term targets, reflecting both the ambition and the current baseline gap.
The ESPR regulatory timeline defines the near-term product roadmap more concretely than any internal target. ESPR mandatory sustainable material content for tyres, once enacted, will require Nexen’s full European production at the Žatec Czech plant to meet minimum sustainable content thresholds as a market entry requirement. Nexen’s LD Carbon rCB agreement, rice husk ash silica, and recycled PET cord technology are specifically cited as ESPR preparedness investments, confirming that European regulatory compliance is a primary commercial driver of Nexen’s circular economy strategy.
Source
https://www.nexentire.com/international/sustainability/environment/climate/index.php
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-secures-sbti-approval-for-greenhouse-gas-reduction-targets
https://tyre-trends.com/materials/nexen-tire-and-ld-carbon-sign-long-term-supply-agreement-for-recovered-carbon-black
Comparisons to Industry Competitors
Competitor reports:
Competitor reports:
https://www.hankooktire.com/global/en/esg/esg-report.html
https://corporate.goodyear.com/content/dam/goodyear-corp/documents/responsibility/goodyear-crr-2024-final.pdf
https://www.bridgestone.com/responsibilities/esgdata/
https://annualreport.continental.com/2024/en/report/sustainability-report.php
What to Watch: 12 to 18 Month Indicators
Three specific signals through mid-2027 will determine whether Nexen’s sustainability trajectory confirms credible SBTi delivery or reveals a systemic execution gap between governance quality and operational performance:
- Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2025 and 2026 after Czech Plant 2 steady state: Czech Plant 2 reached full capacity ramp-up by early 2026, meaning the 2025 and 2026 GHG data will be the first years in which Nexen’s manufacturing footprint is stable and any emissions reduction must come from genuine decarbonisation programmes rather than ramp-up distortion. The 2025/26 Sustainability Report, due in mid-2026, will confirm whether Scope 1 and 2 emissions have peaked and turned downward from the 2024 level of 362,361 tCO2e toward the SBTi 2034 target of 41.2% below 2023 baseline. A second consecutive year of Scope 1 and 2 increase, even after Czech Plant 2 reaches steady state, would confirm that Nexen lacks the operational decarbonisation infrastructure required to deliver the 58.8% reduction by 2034.
- Commercially available tyre at 70% sustainable material content with independent certification: Nexen confirmed 70% technology capability in the 2024/25 ESG Report and signed the LD Carbon rCB agreement in May 2025. All the supply chain inputs for a 70% commercial tyre are operationally available. The critical remaining step is an ISCC PLUS-certified commercially available tyre at 70% or above, produced at one of its four plants and available in the European or Korean replacement market. A confirmed product launch in 2026 to 2027 would place Nexen directly alongside Goodyear EDS and Bridgestone M870 as commercial sustainable material leaders, removing the current gap between proprietary technology confirmation and commercial product delivery that represents the most visible sustainability credibility risk in Nexen’s portfolio.
- RE100 membership application or confirmed renewable electricity procurement target: Nexen’s 2023 statement that it would “actively consider” RE100 application has remained unconfirmed for two years. With Czech Plant 2 fully operational in 2026 adding significant new electricity demand, the proportion of renewable electricity in Nexen’s total manufacturing energy mix will be at its lowest point since the Žatec plant opened in 2019, unless new renewable procurement is secured simultaneously. The 2025/26 Sustainability Report will confirm whether a confirmed renewable electricity target, power purchase agreement, or RE100 membership application has been formalised. Absence of a confirmed renewable energy commitment in 2026 would mean Nexen is the only manufacturer in this five-company series without a formal renewable energy milestone, creating a material downside risk to its EcoVadis Environment score at the next assessment cycle.
Source
https://tracenable.com/company/nexen-tire/ghg-emissions
https://www.nexentireusa.com/posts/nexen-tire-reveals-sustainable-material-demonstration-tire/
https://www.tyre-trends.com/news/nexen-tire-publishes-4th-annual-sustainability-report
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-secures-sbti-approval-for-greenhouse-gas-reduction-targets
Nexen’s sustainability profile in 2025 to 2026 represents the most credible governance-infrastructure build among mid-tier Asian tyre manufacturers, but with the most significant gap between governance quality and operational performance of any manufacturer in this series. SBTi approval in September 2025, EcoVadis Gold at top 3% globally for the second year, UNGC membership since 2023, first full 15-category Scope 3 inventory, first TNFD LEAP biodiversity survey, and first 10-subsidiary consolidated reporting are all genuine governance milestones delivered in a compressed 24-month window. Few companies of Nexen’s size have advanced across as many disclosure dimensions simultaneously.
The operational execution gap is real and specific. Scope 1 and 2 emissions rose 6.82% in 2024. No RE100 commitment or confirmed renewable electricity target exists. The 70% commercial tyre has no launch date. These are not disclosure gaps, they are performance gaps, and they matter because Nexen’s SBTi 2034 target of 58.8% Scope 1 and 2 reduction is the most ambitious near-term target among all five manufacturers in this series. Delivering it requires beginning the absolute reduction trajectory no later than 2026. If Czech Plant 2 steady state does not produce a measurable emissions reduction in 2025, the timeline from current baseline to 2034 target becomes mathematically very compressed.
Three strategic takeaways for practitioners benchmarking or replicating Nexen’s approach:
- Use Nexen’s EcoVadis Bronze-to-Gold five-year progression as a procurement governance improvement model: Nexen progressed from Bronze (2021) to Silver (2022, 2023) to Gold (2024, 2025) in five consecutive EcoVadis cycles, a systematic governance improvement trajectory that demonstrates what structured, annual ESG management system investment produces in external recognition outcomes. Procurement teams using EcoVadis as a supplier qualification tool should use Nexen’s trajectory as the reference model for what a credible supplier sustainability improvement programme looks like over a five-year horizon, setting annual score progression milestones rather than binary pass-fail ratings.
- Treat the LD Carbon multi-geography rCB agreement as the supply chain model for ESPR preparedness: Nexen’s LD Carbon agreement covers Korea, China, and Czech Republic simultaneously, creating a single supply relationship that addresses circular carbon black requirements across three regulatory environments. Companies preparing for ESPR mandatory sustainable content requirements should note that Nexen secured this agreement 12 to 18 months before ESPR tyre provisions are expected to take effect, establishing the procurement lead time required to integrate rCB into production qualification, compound testing, and supply chain documentation. Any manufacturer that has not begun rCB supply qualification by 2026 faces a compressing window before ESPR creates regulatory demand.
- Monitor Nexen’s 2025/26 Sustainability Report as the first emissions trajectory confirmation for the SBTi 2034 target: The 2025/26 report, due mid-2026, will be the first post-Czech-Plant-2-steady-state GHG data point. If Scope 1 and 2 emissions begin declining from the 362,361 tCO2e 2024 peak in a single year after Czech Plant 2 stabilises, it will confirm that Nexen’s manufacturing energy efficiency programmes are operationally effective and that the 58.8% reduction is on a credible early trajectory. If not, the 2034 target joins the list of industry commitments where governance ambition and operational delivery have diverged, and external rating pressure from SBTi, EcoVadis, and OEM procurement sustainability teams will follow.
Source
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-receives-ecovadis-gold-rating-for-second-consecutive-year
https://newsroom.nexentire.com/press-releases/nexen-tire-secures-sbti-approval-for-greenhouse-gas-reduction-targets
https://tyre-trends.com/materials/nexen-tire-and-ld-carbon-sign-long-term-supply-agreement-for-recovered-carbon-black
https://tracenable.com/company/nexen-tire/ghg-emissions
