Sumitomo Rubber’s rubber procurement subsidiary announced that it has participated in an environmental and social risk assessment tool specific to natural rubber. The Rubberway tool was jointly developed by Continental, Michelin and software company Smart Agriculture (Smag) to promote sustainable sourcing of natural rubber.
As demand for natural rubber increases due to population growth and the development of a mobile society, there is an urgent need to address environmental issues such as deforestation caused by the expansion of farms, as well as social issues such as labor and human rights. tools are helpful.
The Sumitomo Rubber Group is responding to these environmental and social issues by introducing this tool and promoting sustainable procurement of natural rubber in compliance with the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR). It is said that it will. This tool statistically analyzes vast amounts of survey data and evaluates the scale of the problem. Understand environmental and social issues and display the evaluation results on a map. Evaluation items include deforestation, water resource management, forced labor, and child labor.
The tool currently covers 10 countries that produce natural rubber, and Sumitomo says it will make it easier to source supplies from areas that comply with GPSNR policies.
As part of its long-term sustainability policy initiative called “Driving Our Future Challenge 2050,” the company aims to improve traceability and support small-scale family farmers by sourcing raw materials in line with sustainable natural rubber policies. He announced that he has been working on it. . The company will continue to actively promote initiatives in collaboration with all stakeholders, including the supply chain, in order to realize a society where natural rubber is sustainable.
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