Sumitomo Rubber aligns policy with GPSNR 

Tokyo – Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd (SRI) has recently updated its “sustainable natural rubber policy,” to align with the requirements for the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), the group announced 31 Aug.

GPSNR members are required to align their natural rubber (NR) policies with its policy framework within their first six months at the platform. 

SRI said it has been "actively engaged" in procuring NR from sustainable resources and the recent move will aim to “better promote efforts to tackle environmental issues."

The updated policyt, it said, will address challenges such as deforestation in rubber-producing regions and human rights issues such as labour conditions.

Welcoming the move, GPSNR director Stefano Savi said SRI had “formally codified their commitment to fair, equitable and sustainable natural rubber value chains.” 

According to Savi, currently, 50% of the world’s natural rubber demand is represented at GPSNR, and such a move “represents a major step forward for the industry as a whole.”