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Design & Sourcing
Responsible Sourcing of Natural Rubber from Indonesia
Together with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), we are working in a development partnership to promote greater sustainability in the natural rubber supply chain in Indonesia. The country is the world's second largest producer of natural rubber. The aim of the project is to develop a catalog of criteria for the sustainable production of natural rubber, to train farmers in sustainable cultivation methods in accordance with these criteria, and to ensure the traceability of the rubber from the small farmers to its use in production at Continental. Better rubber quality, higher yields and supply chain optimization increase the income of rubber farmers. The partnership between Continental and GIZ is supported by the develoPPP.de program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Since rubber trees grow in rainforest areas, it must be ensured that the cultivation of rubber trees does not lead to deforestation. To ensure sustainable rubber production, Continental and GIZ already introduced a traceability system in 2018 to promote traceable rubber production in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. This helps to ensure that the natural rubber can be evaluated in detail at all stages of the supply chain – from cultivation and processing to Continental's tire plants.
As part of the project, around 5,000 smallholders have so far been trained to cultivate high-quality rubber according to clearly defined sustainability criteria. By 2027, further 1,000 smallholders are to be involved in the project.
The gains are threefold: the smallholders’ income has increased by an average of 27 percent since the start of the project; together with GIZ, Continental is building valuable capacity to improve sustainability in the cultivation of natural rubber by smallholders and to use responsibly sourced natural rubber in products; and precious forests and peatlands are preserved in the project region in Indonesia.
For Continental, natural rubber is responsibly sourced when it is sustainably cultivated and processed through a transparent supply chain that is monitored by a due diligence mechanism. These measures help to uphold human rights, minimize environmental impact and improve the living conditions of local smallholders. The goal is to establish a fair value chain for natural rubber. Continental aims to achieve 100 percent sustainable supply chains by 2050 at the latest. When it comes to natural rubber, Continental Tires is going one step further and aims to cover its entire demand exclusively through responsible sources by as soon as 2030.
Responsibly Sourced Natural Rubber in Series Production
Since July 2022, all newly produced tires in Continental’s “Gravity” mountain bike product range feature responsibly sourced natural rubber from a project in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
