Tire makers Michelin and Continental have formed a joint venture with a software developer called Smag to advance Smag’s Rubberway app, a solution for mapping sustainability practices in the natural rubber supply chain.
Rubberway was launched in 2017 and is already used in some of the main NR producing countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Brazil. The platform maps and assesses practices and risks associated with the environment, social affairs and corporate social responsibility governance throughout the natural rubber industry, from rubber-processing plants downstream to plantations upstream.
The data provided by Rubberway will enable tire manufacturers to identify and improve their sustainability practices in the natural rubber chain.
As part of the joint venture, Michelin will contribute its knowledge on the rights of use and exploitation, as well as feedback on the app from its own user experience.
Continental hopes to open the path to wider use of the application by other tire manufacturers and car parts manufacturers, therefore helping to accelerate the rise of responsible practices in the natural rubber industry.
