Schwalbe expands usage of ‘fair rubber’ in tires

Reichshof, Germany – Schwalbe is significantly expanding the proportion of ‘fair rubber’ in its tire products as part of its broader social corporate responsibility commitment.

The German bicycle tire manufacturer is increasing the number of tire models that can be produced with “fairly traded natural rubber” by six-fold, said Schwalbe in a statement.

The “certified” rubber from Indonesia comes from the so-called “jungle plantations”, which unlike monocultures preserve the biodiversity of the rainforest, said the 6 June announcement.

Schwalbe joined the Fair Rubber e. V. initiative in 2021, which aims to address the “inadequate world market price for rubber”.

As part of the project, Schwalbe pays a premium of €0.50 directly to the certified small farmers or tappers for every kilo of natural rubber – corresponding to “one third of the current world market price”.

According to Schwalbe’s head of CSR, Felix Jahn, the initiative has increased the number of its farmer members from 277 in 2020 to 2,320 in 2022.

“This gives us significantly larger quantities of fair-trade natural rubber, which we use in the production of numerous other tire models,” Jahn added.

The German manufacturer said it continued to ‘work intensively’ with Fair Rubber to increase capacity for the rubber.