As of now, the Japanese tyre manufacturer Yokohama will pay increased attention to sustainability when purchasing natural rubber and has passed corresponding guidelines. A positive impact is to be expected across the whole supplier chain.
The paper consists of retraceability of the delivered rubber, protection of human and labour rights, as well as the protection of the environment. An internationally rising demand for tyres, and thus for natural rubber, triggered the initiative. Moreover, rubber-producing countries often have to cope with illegal deforestation, excessive exploitation of cultivated areas, violations of human rights, and a decline in biological diversity. Yokohama would like to counteract these developments and is already a member of the industry’s organisations Sustainable Natural Rubber Initiative (SNR-i) and Tire Industry Project (TIP), which are aiming at more sustainability. In the framework of the World Rubber Summit 2018, which took place in May, both suggested different proposals, recommendations and demands, which Yokohama integrated into its own guidelines with the title ”Procurement Policy for the Sustainable Natural Rubber”.
(akl)
