Finnish firm Black Donuts has opened InTire?Labs, a fully independent Material Research Centre in Tampere, Finland. Supported by NextGenerationEU funding, InTire Labs is dedicated to advancing the rubber industry through sustainable innovation, serving tyre manufacturers, raw material suppliers, and rubber product developers worldwide, regardless of size.
The company states that its core mission is to accelerate the transition from fossil-based raw materials in rubber compounds to more environmentally friendly, biobased, renewable, and recyclable raw materials.
It adds that the primary research goal is to reduce fossil-derived microplastic emissions from tyre wear by replacing tread rubber raw materials with more biodegradable options.
Equipped with modern pilot-scale mixing and curing machinery, Mooney viscometers, aging and thermal analysis chambers, and testing technologies, InTire Labs supports the full lifecycle — from early compound formulation to performance validation.
In addition to developing new materials, the lab is concentrating on advancing intelligent manufacturing through researching the integration of smart sensors into rubber products, innovative MES systems for digitalised and optimised R&D processes, remote monitoring of energy use and equipment performance, and traceability and recycling strategies to support circular economies.
The company is also exploring pyrolysis and post-treatment methods to produce high-quality recycled materials locally and collect material parameters to build digital material models for simulating tyre performance.