ETRMA, IRSG sustainability meeting in Brussels

Brussels –"Bio-based, Sustainable, Critical: Natural Rubber and its Future" is the theme of a meeting scheduled for Brussels on 15 Nov, to be co-sponsored by the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association and the International Rubber Study Group.

The two-hour session at the Hotel Le Plaza will begin with an introduction by the European Commission on how responsible, sustainable sourcing of natural rubber can support the implementation of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

This will be followed by presentations on the criticality of natural rubber to European industry, the need for transparency in the natural rubber market, sustainability in the natural rubber supply chain and alternative sourcing of natural rubber, according to an ETRMA press release.

The ETRMA will make a presentation on the role of natural rubber in the tire industry and the challenges of instituting good practices concerning the circular economy, the association said.

In its part of the programme, the IRSG will describe its work in establishing transparency in the NR market, especially on how new technologies can help to collect, store, maintain, upgrade, analyze and disseminate reliable information on NR production, according to the press release.

Representatives from the Tire Industry Project of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development will describe efforts at improving the supply chain as to respect for human rights, preventing land grabbing, protecting biodiversity and water resources, improving yields and increasing supply chain transparency, the ETRMA said.

Officials of Drive4EU, a European Union-funded project to demonstrate the feasibility of dandelions as a source of natural rubber, will discuss the challenges of creating a new agro-industrial supply chain in Europe, the association said.