Hankook Tire has underscored its social responsibility to sustainable natural rubber sourcing through a new policy, which aims to secure economic, social and environmental sustainability throughout the supply chain.
Overall the initiative will look at ways to improve quality of life for natural rubber farmers and smallholders, to streamline productivity of the production process, and enhance the quality of natural rubber.
Through the policy each party in the natural rubber value chain, including the farmers, dealers, processors and manufacturers, are obliged not only to comply with the laws and regulations of the countries in which they operate but also to fulfill their social responsibility with regards to human rights, with environmental and management transparency.
The guidelines for human rights cover respect for employees’ free will for labor, compliance with the minimum employment age regulations of each country and prohibition of discrimination.
In the environmental sector, conservation of biodiversity, utilization of environmentally friendly water resources, optimization of energy usage, and prevention of resource depletion are regulated. Efforts should also be made to enhance transparency of the complex natural rubber value chain, which ranges from farmers to manufacturers.
Hankook Tire will conduct a biennial CSR assessment of its partners and evaluate their compliance with the policy. Together, they will make huge efforts to minimize the social and environmental impacts that might result from non-compliance.
