WWF: The Quest for Responsible Rubber Production

The Worldwide Fund for Nature has launched an ambitious project to transform the global natural rubber market in a quest for responsible production. The WWF’s goal is to ensure rubber is produced sustainably, without clearing the natural forests.

The environmental organisation cites vehicle tyres as being the major cause of rubber use globally. Tyres on cars, vans, bicycles, planes, buses, delivery trucks and just about every other type of vehicle need rubber. Calculating how many tyres are manufactured globally every year has been the subject of some debate.

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Although it’s impossible to provide a totally accurate estimate, researchers suggest 390 million motor vehicle tyres and 265.7 million bicycle tyres are manufactured each year. In a lot of cases, the rubber originated from rubber trees grown in forests in Asia, between Vietnam and India, in southern China and Indonesia.

More than 90% of the planet’s natural rubber is grown in these regions, as the climate and soil are perfect for the growth of rubber trees.

Challenges of natural rubber production

The WWF points out that producing this amount of rubber each year is putting a strain on the earth’s natural resources and wiping out the habitats of many wildlife species.

The natural forests of Asia are home to tigers, elephants and other endangered species, yet the ancient habitat is often cleared to make room for planting more rubber trees to keep up with global demand. They are among the planet’s most threatened forests today.

As well as being cleared for rubber trees, the forests are also chopped down to make way for agriculture, such as farms producing sugar, palm oil, rice and corn. The number of forests being cleared to make way for rubber trees is “dramatically increasing” according to the WWF and that is why they have set an ambitious goal of transforming the worldwide rubber market.

How does responsible rubber production work?

The WWF says sustainable rubber production can increase biodiversity and carbon sequestration, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It will also avoid breaching human and labour rights, as well as outlawing “land grabs”, when land is seized in an opportunistic and sometimes unlawful manner.

Changes at a corporate level are needed for the new system to work. Both the producers who grow rubber and the companies that use it must be on board with the scheme. At a company level, WWF is urging businesses to support an international commitment to source, produce or use more sustainable natural rubber.

This includes tyre makers, car manufacturers, rubber producers and processors, airlines, fleet operators and buyers who use rubber for non-tyre uses, such as rubber glove manufacturers and shoe companies, for example.

Corporate level changes

Tyra manufacturers are being targeted in particular because they use more than 70% of the world’s rubber. With the financial power to influence rubber producers to make more sustainable choices, motor vehicle manufacturers are also particularly important for the same reason.

A single car manufacturer might buy 50 million new tyres annually for its vehicles. The number of car owners is predicted to double by 2050, so companies who make or purchase tyres can have a massive impact on the world’s forests by demanding the responsible production of rubber.

As the world’s second-largest tyre manufacturer and the largest buyer of natural rubber, Michelin is committed to responsible rubber sourcing in June 2016, partnering with WWF to announce its new policies relating to natural rubber. Other tyre makers including Bridgestone, Pirelli, Goodyear, Continental, Sumitomo, Yokohama, Hankook and Toyo have followed suit. General Motors, the world’s third-largest automobile maker, became the first to announce its new responsible rubber sourcing policy in 2017. Toyota and BMW have since done the same. Toyota had already signed a five-year agreement with WWF to focus on the sustainability of natural resources in its manufacturing policies. Four companies have pledged to produce natural rubber responsibly: Socfin, Barito, Olam and Halcyon Agri.

Many of the companies and the WWF have joined non-profit organisations, rubber traders and processors to found the new Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber. Its aim is to increase the supply and use of sustainable natural rubber globally.

Changes at farming level

It is challenging to make changes at the farming level, as six million farmers are responsible for producing 85% of the world’s natural rubber. Convincing them to make changes is something the WWF is dealing with at present by launching four projects that will demonstrate how rubber production can be carried out sustainably, from an economic, environmental and social point of view.

One project, in southern China, has seen the WWF liaising with the government to transform thousands of acres of illegal rubber plantations back into a wild habitat for elephants. In addition, poorly managed and unsustainable rubber plantations are being converted into semi-natural forests.

Further pilot projects are taking place in Myanmar and Cambodia – both countries where the biggest increase in rubber production is anticipated and most forest has been destroyed in the past year to make way for new rubber plantations.

Rubber production hasn’t seen the same amount of publicity as palm oil, paper and soy production has received in recent years, but it is equally important that it becomes sustainable for the sake of future generations and our planet.