Continental has announced that it is extending its commitment to sustainability in the natural rubber supply chain. Towards this, the company and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) have agreed on a significant expansion of their successful project to ensure full traceability of the natural rubber supply chain in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan in Borneo. Here, 4,000 small farmers, rather than the previous 450, are now involved in the project by 2024. The project objective remains the same: Small farmers in the natural rubber sector are trained to grow high-quality raw materials in compliance with clearly defined sustainability criteria. By improving the quality of the raw material, the income of smallholders is to be increased.
Claus Petschick, Head of Sustainability of the Tires business area, said, “Continental’s goal is to achieve 100% sustainable supply chains by 2050. The valuable experience we are gaining in this project allows us to progressively increase the transparency of our natural rubber supply chains. Education and digitalisation are important contributors to making our supply chains more sustainable. Together with our partners, we are demonstrating in Borneo that this can succeed in the natural rubber sector. I am pleased that we are now significantly expanding this successful project.”
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of natural rubber. The Kapuas Hulu district, where Continental is collaborating with the BMZ, has two national parks that have been designated as biosphere reserves by UNESCO.
Continental and the BMZ already implemented a digital traceability system for natural rubber in the project region back in 2018. With its help, all steps of the natural rubber supply chain can be evaluated in detail - from cultivation to further processing to Continental’s tire plants. The cultivation areas mapped by GPS, raw rubber delivery quantities and sales prices achieved are documented in the system for each transaction. For the further processing of the raw rubber produced in the project and in the implementation of the traceability, the project partners work in particular with the natural rubber suppliers Southland Global and Halcyon Agri Corporation.
Both the BMZ and Continental are members of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), which was founded in March 2019, a merger of the most critical players in the natural rubber sector from the economy and civil society. Together with other members, they are working on global sustainability in the natural rubber sector. Both Continental and the BMZ aim to promptly consider the guidelines for greater sustainability in the natural rubber sector elaborated here in their projects in Indonesia.