Since July 2022, all newly produced tyres in German firm Continental’s “Gravity” mountain bike product range feature responsibly sourced natural rubber (NR) from a project in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Together with its partners, Continental says it is demonstrating through this project how education and digitalisation can play a key role in establishing sustainable natural rubber supply chains.
For Continental, NR 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, minimise environmental impact and improve the living conditions of local smallholders. The goal is to establish a fair value chain for NR.
Continental adds it aims to achieve 100% sustainable supply chains by 2050 at the latest. When it comes to NR, it says it is going one step further and aims to cover its entire demand exclusively through responsible sources by as soon as 2030.
The firm says the “Gravity” mountain bike tyres not only have a highly resilient carcass but also a highly robust tread made from responsibly sourced NR. Continental’s “Gravity” tyres come with five different tread patterns that are adapted to withstand four different ground and weather conditions and named Kryptotal, Argotal, Xynotal and Hydrotal.
As part of an extensive development process, each tyre model in this mountain bike product range was systematically tested according to special requirements by professional riders on downhill, endurance and trail courses and continuously optimised, furthers the company.
Continental and the ‘Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit’ (GIZ) launched the joint project in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan back in 2018 with the purpose of preventing sustainability risks. The aim of the project is to enable smallholders in the natural rubber sector to cultivate a high-?quality product in compliance with clearly defined sustainability criteria. This will help to boost their income.
In 2021, Continental and the GIZ agreed to significantly expand their successful joint project. Both Continental and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which is the client of the GIZ, are members of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), which was established in 2019 and is an alliance of the key players from business and civil society in the natural rubber sector. Together with other members, they are working on improving sustainability in the natural rubber sector the world over.