Hankook Tire & Technology has won the Gold Award at Italy’s A' Design Award & Competition 2026 for its Bladder Upcycling Series, developed through the company’s ESG upcycling project re:move. The series reuses bladders, which are inflatable molds used in the tire curing process, and transforms them into furniture, bricks and lifestyle goods. The project highlights how tire manufacturing by-products can be redirected into new design applications, supporting resource circulation, recycling and sustainability through material innovation.

Bladder Upcycling Series recognized in international design competition

The A' Design Award & Competition receives entries from more than 100 countries across categories such as product design, architecture, fashion and graphic design. Hankook Tire received the Gold Award for the Bladder Upcycling Series on its first participation in the competition. According to the company, the Gold Award is presented to the top three percent of entries.

Project reuses tire manufacturing by-products

The Bladder Upcycling Series was created as part of Hankook Tire’s re:move project, an ESG initiative focused on transforming discarded manufacturing materials into new resources through creative upcycling. The project uses bladders from the tire curing process and explores how these materials can be reused through collaboration with partners in design, research and other industries. Hankook Tire said the initiative also supports its work in material research and sustainable design.

Collection developed with Seoul National University lab

The award-winning series was developed with DISCO Lab, the Design Innovation for Sustainable Circularity Lab at Seoul National University. The collection includes 3D-printed upcycled furniture that uses the distinctive layered texture of the bladder material, upcycled bricks made with recycled tire molds for kinetic wall installations, and handcrafted upcycled keyrings designed as lifestyle accessories. The judges recognized the series for its approach to circular design and resource sustainability.

Series first presented at Seoul Design Festival

The Bladder Upcycling Series was first unveiled at Seoul Design Festival 2025. Following the A' Design Award recognition, the winning works will be permanently exhibited at the Museo del Design in Como, Italy. Hankook Tire said the award reflects the company’s design activities beyond mobility, including material innovation and lifestyle design based on reused tire manufacturing materials.

re:move project gains further design recognition

The re:move project has previously received international recognition for sustainable design. Its first outcome, the Upcycled Longboard, received the Winner Award in the Concept Design category at the Red Dot Design Award 2024 in Singapore and later received the 2025 Green GOOD DESIGN Sustainability Award in the United States. Hankook Tire said it plans to continue expanding the reuse and recycling of unused materials while developing sustainable design projects linked to resource circulation.

Article source: Hankook Tire.