Natural Rubber Sustainability
Natural Rubber is a key ingredient in tyres and many other products with 70% going to tyre production and 85% produced by smallholders, mostly in Asia.
The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), Initiated by WBCSD’s Tire Industry Project members is committed to promoting the uptake of sustainable natural rubber in the global marketplace by addressing forest and other ecosystem conversion, biodiversity loss, human and labour rights issues in the natural rubber supply chain.
The Executive Committee at GPSNR comprises of members representing five Membership Categories. These include…
- Producers, Processors and Traders
- Tyre Makers and Other Natural Rubber Makers/Buyers
- Car Makers, Other Downstream Users and Financial Institutions
- Civil Society
- Smallholder Producers
Apollo Tyres joined GSPNR in Mar 2019 with the aim to improve social, economic, and environmental aspects within the natural rubber supply chain. We have signed a commitment to uphold the 12 Principles of Sustainable Natural Rubber.
Further to support its members in translating the 12 Principles into concrete commitments that can be implemented, monitored and measured, GPSNR has developed a Policy framework for Sustainable Natural Rubber consisting of 8 Policy Components. These include…
- Commitment to Legal Compliance
- Commitment to Healthy, Functioning Ecosystems
- Commitment to Respecting all Human Rights
- Commitment to Community Livelihoods
- Commitment to Increased Production Efficiency
- Commitment to Systems and Processes to Drive Effective Implementation of Policy Components
- Commitment to Supply Chain Assessment, Traceability, and Management
- Commitment to Monitoring and Reporting on Progress Towards, and Conformance with, Policy Components
The Policy Framework from GPSNR is a set of social, economic and environmental commitments that all member companies must strive towards. An Implementation Guidance is also being developed for industrial producers, processors and manufacturers through a risk-based approach.
GPSNR recognizes the need for each member company to best incorporate the Policy Components into its commitments depending on the company’s position in the supply chain, and as such provides support which is specific to each supply chain node for the appropriate adoption of the Policy Components.
Apollo Tyres released its sustainable natural rubber policy, ASNRP in September 2021 which is fully aligned with the policy framework requirements of GPSNR. We are a member of Smallholder Working group and nominated as country champion for India.