As part of its sustainability efforts, Continental Tire Japan plans to use the PROJECT TREE blockchain initiative to ensure some of its AllSeasonContact tires use responsibly sourced natural rubber. PROJECT TREE is an initiative of Japanese conglomerate ITOCHU, which owns a rubber processing company in Sumatra, Indonesia and the UK’s Kwik Fit, a major network of tire fitters and car maintenance. ITOCHU officially launched this sustainability initiative in December 2021.
PROJECT TREE tires are sold at a premium, and money is funneled back to the farm smallholders by providing them with farm tools, fertilizer and training. The Indonesian rubber company uses blockchain during the procurement process to record the location of where the rubber was sourced to track which tires use rubber from PROJECT TREE and trace it from the raw material through to the retail sale.
Almost 60% of the world’s rubber comes from Thailand and Indonesia. According to Continental, 70% of the world’s natural rubber is used for tire production, and 85% of production is based on plantation agriculture.
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