# Hankook Tire shows furniture made from used tire-curing bladders at Design-Busan 2026

- Published: 2026-11-09 01:12 UTC
- Section: Planet › Ecology & recycling
- Tags: Hankook Tire & Technology, Design-Busan 2026, tire curing bladder, rubber upcycling, Bladder Upcycling Series, DISCO Lab, ISCC PLUS, iON GT, recycled rubber furniture
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-d1dc114323ea3a4a4bf85b2d_hankook_tire_shows/

**Hankook Tire & Technology exhibits furniture, blocks and 3D-printed items made from worn curing bladders in Busan; the series has won four design awards this year.**

![Hankook Tire shows furniture made from used tire-curing bladders at Design-Busan 2026](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/917f12629fe628a0.jpg)
*biz.heraldcorp.com*

Hankook Tire & Technology said on the 9th that it is taking part in Design-Busan 2026, held in and around Dongnae-gu, Busan, through the 15th. According to biz.heraldcorp.com, the company is showing furniture and household items made from rubber left over from tire production [1]. The festival opened on the 5th. Busan organizes it ahead of its 2028 World Design Capital year, under the theme "sea, people, environment" [1].

The company's display covers tire materials, production by-products and products made from end-of-life tires [1]. It is split between two sites: the Rubber Exhibition Hall at the DRB (Dongil Rubber Belt) Dongnae plant and the Design Theme Hall at Suan Art House, a converted idle building [1].

## Exhibits and bladder upcycling

The Rubber Exhibition Hall shows tires made with sustainable raw materials, Ballfit, developed with the outdoor brand Helinox from recycled rubber, and a longboard made from scrap tires [1].

The focus is the bladder, a rubber bag placed inside a tire during manufacture to transfer heat and pressure and help the tire take its shape. Repeated use wears it out, and it must then be replaced [1]. Hankook Tire grinds or processes spent bladders into furniture, brick-shaped blocks, household items and 3D-printed sculptures [1].

The Design Theme Hall presents the Bladder Upcycling Series, developed with DISCO Lab, the circular design lab at Seoul National University. A video of the manufacturing process is shown alongside [1].

## Awards and production steps

The work continues under the company's ReMove project. Its first result, the upcycled longboard, received a Red Dot Design Award in Germany in 2024 and a Green Good Design Award last year [1]. This year the Bladder Upcycling Series received four awards: Red Dot Design Award, A' Design Award (gold), Green Good Design Award and the US IDEA Design Award [1]. The IDEA award, announced in September, was in the social impact design category [1].

The company also reports steps in production. In May its Jiaxing plant in China obtained ISCC PLUS certification, which verifies the sustainability of bio-based and recycled raw materials. It is the fourth certified site after Geumsan, Hungary and Daejeon [1]. The iON GT, an EV-specific tire sold in the European replacement market, uses up to about 77% sustainable materials [1].

Hankook Tire said it plans to widen cooperation with design, materials and industry partners and keep developing technologies and products that reuse production by-products [1].

## Sources

1. [biz.heraldcorp.com](https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10930136)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-d1dc114323ea3a4a4bf85b2d_hankook_tire_shows/