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Agenda

Session 1: Emerging Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities in the Global Tire Industry
The future of global tire market to 2030
  • Steady demand for traditional and replacement tires.
  • Rapid expansion of EV fleets drives innovation in EV-specific tire design.
  • Smart, sensor-integrated tires and airless/advanced technology tires will gain traction, supported by fleets and autonomous mobility.
  • Sustainable tire materials and circular economy models will become mainstream, as environmental regulations tighten globally. 
  • Asia‑Pacific, currently the largest region (44% revenue share), is expected to remain dominant into 2030;  North America and Europe projected to grow faster in percentage term
Speaker from Smithers
Networking tea break
Session 2: Insights from Industry Key Players on Sustainability
TBC
Speaker from Goodyear
 
Building brand equity through nature-based solution in biodiversity conservation, responsible supply Chain practices, and community engagement
Giti Tire’s 2030 sustainability vision aspires to position the company as one of the world’s most trusted elephant logo brand, grounded in ecological stewardship, ethical sourcing, and inclusive community development. A core pillar of this strategy is biodiversity protection, highlighted by the company’s long-term commitment to Sumatran elephant conservation through habitat preservation, farmer education, and conflict reduction. These initiatives symbolize Giti’s values of resilience and environmental responsibility while reinforcing brand identity. To meet rising global regulatory expectations, including the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), Giti has embedded robust due diligence and traceability systems across its supply chain, treating forest conservation and nature-based risk management as strategic imperatives. At the community level, the company supports capacity building through financial literacy and sustainable agriculture programs that empower farmers and promote regenerative practices. This integration of biodiversity conservation, supply chain integrity, and local empowerment reflects a holistic sustainability approach that aligns operational excellence with climate and nature goals. By reducing nature-related risks and creating shared value, Giti enhances long-term brand equity rooted in transparency, ecosystem stewardship, and social impact—positioning the company as a responsible business leader in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
Dr. Pang Chong Hau | Chief Sustainability Officer, Giti Tire
TBC
Lunch break
Session 3: Trends and Innovations for Advanced Tire Manufacturing & Testing
Tire dynamics testing of tire performance under low tire-road adhesion conditions(plan)
Under low-adhesion conditions, tire dynamics testing plays a crucial role in assessing tire performance on challenging roads like slippery surfaces, snow, and mud. By simulating actual driving conditions, these tests measure the mechanical characteristics of tires under different conditions, providing data support for tire design, vehicle handling performance optimization, and safety evaluation. This article will explore techniques for identifying adhesion properties specific to driven wheels through road tests conducted on automobiles.
 
Lun Li | Senior Director, Chassis Development, China FAW Group Corporation
AI, machine learning, and simulation in optimizing tire design
Many industries are leveraging data-driven approaches such as machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) in developing new materials and improving performance.  The utilization of ML/AI offers advantages such as expediting development timelines by minimizing the need for extensive experimental testing and proposing compound formulas to meet design objectives efficiently. This presentation delves into the significance of AI in quality control and product development of rubber formulations and tire designs and will discuss some unique opportunities and challenges for data-driven material development in the tire and rubber industry.

Speaker from Siemens
Networking tea break
Tire wear prediction
Tire labeling and regulations aim to address tire road wear particles (TRWP), emphasizing the need for sustainability. Efforts are underway for outdoor testing under controlled conditions to offer the most realistic insights; however, these methods for full-scale tires are costly, challenging, and typically conducted at later stages. Conversely, lab-scale testing or studying wear particles requires realistic methodologies and predictive wear tests to accurately forecast tire wear during the R&D phase. The well-established Grosch abrasion test on the LAT100 was designed to mathematically estimate common daily driving scenarios based on speed and energy dissipation, in accordance with the ISO 23233 standard. This presentation introduces a novel dynamic abrasion test that significantly reduces test time (by at least 12 times) while demonstrating excellent agreement with the Grosch test matrix, without requiring intra- and extrapolation mathematical models.
 
Marzieh Salehi | R&D manager , VMI Holland BV
Panel Discussion: Unlocking value in tires and beyond: the power of digital transformation
  • Brief introduction to the role of digitalization in tires and its potential to drive value across the supply chain.
  • Discussion on how digital transformation is revolutionizing the tire sector, enabling smarter operations, predictive maintenance, and enhanced performance. 
  • Key technologies and case studies in tire manufacturing: AI, Machine learning, IoT, RFID/DPP 
  • Span the entire value chain over the whole tire lifecycle
End of Day One Conference
Session 4: Development and Innovations in Sustainable Tire Materials
Innovative RF-free resin for tire cords
-    Norm & Regulation
-    Araminolic Technology
  • Why Michelin can help
  • Michelin ResiCare
  • Resi4TEX
-    RF-Free  The New standard
 
Xunyan Ma | Asia Business Developer, Michelin Engineered Polymers – ResiCare
Wacker Technical Solution of Silanes and Siloxanes into Rubber compound
  • Performance requirement and Market Circumstances for tire industry
  • Compound design change for tires
  • Key features of advanced tires
  • How to handle challenges for rubber compounding
  • Feasible solution of Silanes & Polysiloxanes from WACKER

HeeHoon Jeong | Technical service leader of Rubber and Plastics , WACKER
Natural Rubber + Silica Alternative Material for Significantly Improved Tire Wear
Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, many nations have announced strategies to achieve carbon neutrality and have implemented a variety of policies to realize these goals. Notably, requirements within the automotive industry have been progressively strengthened and expanded across the entire product's lifecycle. The tire industry, in response, is focusing not only on reducing carbon emissions during the manufacturing process but also on transitioning to using renewable energy. In particular, R&D efforts are actively exploring the replacement of petroleum-based raw materials used in tires with renewable or recyclable alternatives. These activities are expected to contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions during the raw material acquisition phase of the tire's lifecycle, thereby lowering the overall carbon footprint of the product and also aiding in the preservation of ecological diversity and the prevention of resource depletion. The successful application of these research outcomes to actual products is anticipated to bring us a step closer to the 2050 carbon neutrality goal.
 
Dr. Tom Rosenmayer | Founder and Chief Technical Officer, Silpara Technologies
Networking tea break
Replacing fossil-based materials in tires with innovative, renewable, and sustainable solutions - Towards net zero with UPM BioMotion ™ Renewable Functional Fillers 创新可再生可持续方案替代轮胎中的化石基材料——携手UPM BioMotion™(RFF)
Functional fillers have been used by tire industry for more than 100 years to improve performance properties like durability, driving efficiency and safety. The different filler materials represent approximately 30wt% of tires and consist primarily of highly CO2-intensive fossil carbon black or silica. In contrast, UPM BioMotion ™ Renewable Functional Fillers (RFF) are biobased and feature a negative carbon footprint from cradle to gate, enabling tire manufacturers to meet their sustainability ambitions, while providing additional performance benefits like reduced air permeability, lower rolling resistance and faster biodegradation of rubber wear. First tires have been already successfully developed like Nokian Tyres’ Green Step Ligna, in which all fossil carbon black in the sidewall was fully replaced by UPM BioMotion ™ RFF, increasing the renewable and recycled content to 60wt% in total. In our presentation, we will present different compounding studies highlighting the unique performance benefits of UPM BioMotion ™ RFF for tire applications.
 
Dr. Florian Diehl | Director Sales & Marketing - RFF Business, UPM Biochemicals
Sustainable Carbon Black: Reducing Tire Carbon Footprint and Increasing Recycled/Renewable Content
Orion's sustainability journey has led to the development of innovative carbon black products that significantly reduce environmental impact. Our sustainable carbon black grades are designed to help customers achieve their dual targets of reducing carbon footprint and increasing the use of recycled and renewable raw materials. Our sustainable product offerings are a testament to our commitment to environmental stewardship. We are expanding our production capabilities, particularly in Europe and China, to meet the growing demand for these eco-friendly solutions. This expansion ensures that our customers have access to sustainable carbon black on a global scale. Recent data from the International Carbon Black Association (ICBA) highlights that the carbon footprint of conventional carbon black is higher than previously reported. This new information underscores the substantial carbon footprint reduction achieved by our sustainable carbon black compared to conventional products. The potential reduction in the carbon footprint of tires when switching to our sustainable grades is even greater than initially anticipated. Additionally, the calculations of the carbon footprint reduction for our sustainable versus conventional carbon black have been verified by an external auditor, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of our data. By replacing conventional carbon black with our sustainable solutions, tire manufacturers can achieve significant reductions in their overall carbon emissions. This not only helps meet regulatory requirements but also aligns with the increasing consumer demand for environmentally friendly products. Our sustainable carbon black grades enable customers to contribute to a more sustainable future without compromising on quality or performance. In summary, Orion's sustainable carbon black products provide a powerful solution for tire manufacturers looking to reduce their carbon footprint and increase the use of recycled and renewable materials. Our commitment to sustainability, supported by new data from the ICBA and verified by an external auditor, demonstrates the tangible benefits of transitioning to our sustainable solutions.
 
Celso Magri | Global Marketing and Sustainability Director, Orion Engineered Carbons
Lunch break
Approaches to 100% sustainable technology for tires
Sustainability is now the focal point of technology development in global tire industry. Major tire companies have announced their goals and milestones in implementing sustainable materials.  As a major source of sustainable material, reclaimed carbon black (rCB) has high potential for future commercial use in tires. However, the performance of rCBs are still far from expectation of major tire companies.  The needs for high performance rCBs are still strong from the market.   Here, we are sharing two approaches to largely improve the performance of rCB by using our innovative technology. One is by using different pyrolysis process to increase surface activity of rCB. The other is by using physi-chem treatment of rCB to largely remove, or to deplete mineral materials known as ash. The pyrolysis process approach increases both iodine number (70% increase) and nitrogen adsorption(40% increase) to a large degree, and as a result improves the reinforcement on rubber. The ash-removal approach decreased the total ash content by 60%, especially depleted the zinc content (zero zinc residual). Moreover, it is worth to note that we have not used any of the chemicals that dramatically increase the footprint of treatment process. The whole process is environmental friendly. Now the technology is under commercialization. Eventually, our target is to create 100% sustainable technology for tire industry.
 
Calvin Xu | General Manager, Shanghai Veco New Material Technology Co. Ltd.
LANXESS solutions for sustainability in rubber industry
We live in a world increasingly defined by environmental challenges. Adapting is not only our responsibility but also an important business opportunity. By integrating sustainability into key aspects of our business – from customer engagement to plant operations and innovation—we create tangible, long-term value for ourselves and our stakeholders. This presentation will introduce Rhein Chemie’s solutions for sustainability. These solutions will offer a broad product portfolio based on renewable or recycled raw materials. To apply state of the production of products with efficient material and energy use. To better serve customers with reducing emissions footprint. and enhance sustainability of customer products by improving lifetime or energy consumption. Finally To support the recycling of waste rubber. Above information will help customers in rubber industry to select the environmental and sustainable materials. It will contribute to the sustainability of our world.
 
Mengxuan Hao | Head of Application Development APAC, Rhein Chemie
Session 5: Advancing Solutions and Building Momentum for Sustainability
RFID Embeddable Tire Tagging: The shortest road to sustainability RFID
Join Hana RFID for an exclusive presentation on how embeddable RFID tire tagging is paving the way toward a more sustainable future. With over 20 years of proven expertise in tire-embedded RFID technology, Hana will share insights into how lifecycle traceability supports circularity, safety, and innovation in the tire industry. The session will also explore the critical role RFID plays in meeting upcoming regulations, including the European Digital Product Passport, and why early adoption is key.
 
Randall Grein | Director of Business Development, Hana RFID
The future of green manufacturing: how tire companies can lead in low-carbon innovation
  • Understanding China’s policy direction for carbon reduction in manufacturing and how tire manufacturers can align with China’s carbon neutrality goals and Five-Year Plan objectives.
  • How low-carbon strategies can enhance brand reputation, investor confidence, and market positioning
  • The impact of supply chain decarbonization on exports and global competitiveness
  • Case studies from leading global and Chinese manufacturers adopting green manufacturing practices

Aron Kurzydlo | CEO, First Nations Carbon
Empowering sustainability in the tyre industry through data-driven collaboration
The Global Data Service Organization for Tyres and Automotive Components (GDSO) is a global initiative that is setting the standard for digital tyre identification and data interoperability. By enabling secure and standardized data sharing across the tyre lifecycle — from manufacturing to end-of-life — GDSO provides an IT backbone that supports tyre manufacturers in meeting the growing demands of sustainability and circularity. With an increasing number of regulatory and market-driven sustainability use cases emerging across regions, tyre manufacturers face both complex challenges and transformative opportunities. The difference lies in their ability to leverage data. Through the use of electronic tyre identification and the GDSO-governed Data Space, manufacturers can unlock new business value by transforming compliance requirements into actionable insights and innovative business models. This digital infrastructure simplifies the exchange of tyre-related data across stakeholders — regardless of brand — ensuring full interoperability and scalability. This presentation will unveil GDSO’s newest service designed to connect tyre manufacturers, used tyre collectors, retreaders, and end-of-life processors within a unified data ecosystem. Attendees will discover how this IT solution is enabling the industry to streamline operations, reduce environmental impact, and build new value chains that are both sustainable and data-driven.
Riccardo Giovannotti | Secretary General, GDSO
End of Conference