Seeking sustainability in rubber supply chains.
Many companies are driven toward sustainable sourcing and practices. However, they lack the tools and information to trace materials effectively. Within complex supply chains, locating rubber origins and the circumstances around their production is especially challenging. Geospatial open data services help fill this knowledge gap and give direction on what actions are needed where.
Natural rubber’s unique qualities, particularly its elasticity, make it an essential material for various products. The demand has increased dramatically since 2000 and is set to continue. This poses significant concerns for its increasing environmental and social impact, such as tropical deforestation. In the drive for sustainability, companies across the rubber market strive to decouple these negative impacts from their supply chain. Every company has a vital role in ensuring this happens, from the automotive industry to shoe brands.
As the majority of production is from smallholder farms that then sell to intermediaries, it is challenging for a company to link the rubber bought to specific areas and environmental impacts, let alone mitigate and manage them. However, that does not mean the rubber market is without opportunities for sustainability.
- A 2021 “Rubber Agroforestry — Feasibility at Scale” report shows that rubber grown in agroforestry systems increases ecosystem services and biodiversity while sequestering carbon and diversifying farmers’ incomes. Many positives, all while yields stayed the same.
- Regions such as Latin America and Africa have emerged as alternative production locations where more sustainable practices could be introduced, which could relieve pressure from the current congestion in the Asia Pacific, where 91% of rubber is produced. Thailand and Indonesia top the charts, accounting for 63% of global production.
- Alternative materials to natural rubber are also appearing, such as the currently used synthetic rubbers that are often mixed with natural rubber or research into guayule and rubber dandelion plants.
- Meanwhile, more companies are committing to sustainability initiatives like the Global Platform on Sustainable Natural Rubber. Such developments sparks hope that increased competition in diversified production locations coupled with increased end-consumer demand for sustainable goods may drive companies across the board to pursue greener paths.
What are the main environmental impacts of rubber?
Rubber monoculture requires clearing vast swaths of forests and the habitat for flora and fauna in some of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. In Southeast Asia, this has significantly altered and reduced species composition and richness in animals. Still, monoculture remains the dominant farming method on rubber plantations, especially in Asia, at a tremendous environmental and human cost.
Large water and fertilizer demands associated with rubber monoculture farming result in scarcity of clean water and chemical runoff, both of which negatively impact the livelihoods of workers and other human populations living nearby plantations and processing sites as well as soil quality.
Moreover, soils erode every time forest cover is substituted for new rubber trees. Degraded soils in turn minimize productivity of rubber plantations, decrease flood protection and sequester less carbon. Deforestation, transportation and machinery release even more carbon as part of the rubber production supply chain.
How can rubber production be more sustainable?
Rubber can be processed on household or cooperative levels as an alternative to large-scale industrial processing facilities. This local processing method provides higher-quality rubber sheets, but the market for such high-quality products is limited.
Agroforestry and intercropping not only decrease overall environmental stress but are also shown to be more profitable for farmers. A 2019 study in Hainan Island, China, found that farmers with intercropped plantations earned twice as much per hectare compared to those with pure rubber plantations, with no significant difference in the cost of their inputs. Education on more efficient practices will play an important role, such as growing trees to produce more yield and income, diversifying the range of crops, keeping an undergrowth and tapping less often.
These kinds of transitions are still occurring at a slow rate as smallholder farmers need to overcome knowledge gaps. At the same time, policies and economic incentives sill favor monocultures and the status quo.
How are companies responding?
Numerous companies that source rubber for their products have identified climate and environmental impacts as critical issues to tackle.
Luckily, not only the automotive sector but also companies from other rubber-heavy sectors such as apparel and footwear are making inroads. ASICS Corporation, Lojas Renner S.A. and VF Corporation are also determined to reach their Science Based Targets initiative near-term warming and are committed to long-term net-zero goals. L. Priebs GmbH & Co. KG commits to reducing scope 1+2+3 emissions by 90% by 2050 from a 2018 base year.
What can companies do to improve their rubber supply chain?
Companies with complex supply chains need help to track and understand their rubber supply chain impacts. This is where an ever-growing body of maps, satellite images, and open data portals such as Trase, Global Forest Watch, and Aqueduct, paired with intelligent geospatial open data tools such as LandGriffon can make a difference.
Geospatial data can help companies narrow the search and locate the main areas that need attention first. By mapping procurement data and environmental indicator data sets, companies can now analyze their scope 3 impact and gather insights into where to effectively direct their sustainability efforts.
LandGriffon empowers companies to map their rubber supply chain, whether it is from smallholder or industrial cultivation, being sold to intermediaries or directly to processing facilities. It works with all levels of procurement and sourcing to calculate the associated environmental impacts.
Smallholder farmers, large-scale producers, buyers and eventual consumers share a vital interest in improving the sustainability performance of the entire rubber supply chain. With tools like LandGriffon, companies can finally plan action strategies to improve human livelihoods and the health of our planet.
LandGriffon is developed by Satelligence and Vizzuality, and advised by the Stockholm Environment Institute and their Trase Initiative.
