The commitment of the Michelin Group to sustainable natural rubber

Natural rubber is a raw material that is environmentally sound, endlessly renewable, and which creates wealth and sustainable rural employment. Nevertheless, the increase in global demand for natural rubber, and poor farming practices, can have a negative impact on tropical forests and biodiversity. As a result, Michelin has been working for many years to improve the industry’s value chain with five areas of action.

A STRONG COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABLE NATURAL RUBBER

Michelin drafted their international public commitment in collaboration with all of their stakeholders, and made it public in 2015. It was organised around five themes: respecting people, protecting the environment, improving farming practices, careful use of natural resources, and good governance.

AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THE CREATION AND OPERATION OF THE GLOBAL PLATFORM FOR SUSTAINABLE NATURAL RUBBER

The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) was founded in October 2018, and launched in March 2019, with the support of the TIP (Tyre Industry Project, a joint project with the main tyre manufacturers and hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Rubber). It unites around half of the natural rubber stakeholders, in order to improve the industry’s performance, as part of working groups that explore avenues for progress.

CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Thanks to Michelin’s teams of agronomists and their experimental research centre in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, the Group contributes significantly to the development of better farming practices.

They also help develop tools to map CSR risks, such as the Rubberway project. Lastly, the Michelin Corporate Foundation finances scientific research projects in the public interest.

CONCRETE ACTION IN THE FIELD

In 2015, Michelin, and their Indonesian partner Barito Pacific, created a joint venture, RLU, to develop rubber plantations, protect primary forests, and restore ecosystems in Sumatra (66,000 ha) and East Kalimantan, Borneo (22,000 ha). This project is being carried out in partnership with the WWF. Over time, it should create 16,000 local jobs and protect thousands of hectares of tropical forest of high environmental value, as well as local fauna (elephants and tigers in Sumatra, orangutans in Borneo)

Source :https://www.michelin.com/en/news/the-commitment-of-the-michelin-group-to-sustainable-natural-rubber/