ERJ News Tracker - Sustainability ratings 2025

Listing of sutainability ratings, certifications and awards in the global rubber & tire industry:

In December, Yokohama Rubber Co. was recognised as a "best workplace" in the D&I Award 2025, Japan's certification system for evaluating companies working to promote diversity and inclusion. The award is a certification system run by JobRainbow Inc., and uses a 100-item "diversity score" as an indicator to evaluate participating companies, focusing particularly on five areas: gender, LGBTQ+, disabilities, multicultural coexistence, and childcare/nursing care.

Yokohama Rubber, together with the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT), held its 10th seminar for Thai natural rubber farmers in December 2025, bringing together 50 participants in Surat Thani to improve rubber quality and productivity. The seminar covered soil management, fertiliser use and contamination prevention, while also addressing occupational safety, human rights and community relations.

JK Tyre & Industries has received a silver rating from EcoVadis, placing it in the top 7% globally among companies assessed for sustainability performance. The Indian tire maker achieved an overall score of 77/100 in fiscal year 2025, with its strongest performance in ‘environment category’ at 89 points.

Birla Carbon has been awarded a ‘platinum’ level rating by EcoVadis, placing it among the top 1% of companies globally evaluated by EcoVadis and reflects the company’s sustainability focus across its “operations, innovation, and value-chain.”

Apollo Tyres: Achieved an A- leadership rating in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for both climate change and water security.

In October, Flexsys announced the award of EcoVadis platinum medal in 2025, placing it in the top 1% of more than 125,000 companies assessed worldwide across environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.

The Science Based Targets initiative has validated Flexsys’ targets of reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions 42% (2022-30), Scope 3 emissions in ‘key’ categories 25% (2023-30), and net-zero across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 by 2040.

Akwel was awarded the EcoVadis ‘gold’ medal: placing it among the top 5% of companies with the best CSR performance with a score of 77/100.

Marangoni said it had become the first manufacturer to make CO? emissions data available for its complete Ringtread tire retreading product portfolio.

Cooper Standard recently gained a ‘sustainability award’ during the 2025 Nissan Supplier Appreciation Event in Nashville, Tennessee.

Arlanxeo received ISCC+ certification for its chloroprene rubber plant in Dormagen, Germany, the sixth of its sites to achieve the standard, which enables the company to incorporate sustainable feedstocks into Baypren production using the mass balance approach. Arlanxeo, owned by Saudi Aramco, produces rubber materials across more than 10 plants worldwide.

In September, Kumho Tire said its Gokseong plant in Korea has received ISCC+ certification for the use of sustainable and traceable raw materials. The company aims to increase the use of renewable and recycled materials to 40% by 2030 and 100% by 2045. It has so far developed a prototype tire made with 80% sustainable materials, including recycled carbon black and waste-derived synthetic rubber.

New Jersey-based Sun Chemical announced in August that it has earned a silver rating for its sustainability performance from EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of business sustainability ratings. This recognition places Sun Chemical in the top 15% of rated companies within its business sector.

Sun Chemical announced that it has earned a silver rating for its sustainability performance from EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of business sustainability ratings. This recognition places Sun Chemical in the top 15% of rated companies within its business sector.

In July, Giti Tire: Concept tire composed of 93% sustainable materials, marking a significant development in eco-friendly tire technology.

VMI has been awarded a Gold EcoVadis Medal for its progress toward sustainability. The EcoVadis rating is a comprehensive assessment of a company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. By achieving the Gold Medal, VMI is in the top 5% of most sustainable companies worldwide, as recognized by EcoVadis.

Nexen Tire announced that it has been awarded a Gold rating by EcoVadis, a globally recognized assessment platform, for the second year in a row. This distinction places that company among the top 3% of more than 150,000 companies evaluated worldwide.

Pyrum Innovations AG has once again been awarded an EcoVadis silver rating and increased its score by 9 points to 70 points: putting Pyrum among the best 8% of the companies assessed in the ‘recovery of recyclable materials’ sector.

Cabot Corp. reported in June that it had earned a ‘platinum’ rating from EcoVadis for the fifth consecutive year: recognising its efforts “to drive meaningful environmental and social progress as well as its ongoing commitment to advancing transparency across its value chain.”

Continental has obtained ISCC+ certifications for all its European tire plants*: meeting documentation requirements for the use of renewable and recycled raw materials in new tires. Continental Tires aims tom incorporate over 40% renewable and recycled materials in its tires by 2030. *The release cited plants in: Lousado (Portugal), Puchov (Slovakia), Korbach (Germany), Sarreguemines (France), Otrokovice (Czech Republic), Timi?oara (Romania).

In May, Continental said it had received a ‘platinum’ rating for sustainability from EcoVadis, scoring 84 out of 100 points. The company climbed 10 points compared with last year’s score of 74 points. EcoVadis assessed Continental’s performance based on environment, ethics, labour and human rights, and sustainable procurement.

Orion SA reported in March that its 2024 sustainability rating from EcoVadis had been raised from ‘gold’ to ‘platinum’: ranking it among the top 1% of the companies assessed by EcoVadis. The organisation revised Orion’s score from 78% to 82% after reassessing the company’s 2023 performance.

Giti China was ranked among the top 1% of the tire industry, receiving a ‘platinum’ award, with a score of 85 in the 2025 EcoVadis evaluation and a B-rating for both ‘climate’ and ‘sustainability’ from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

Pirelli said it was again among the top 1% of companies in the 2025 ‘sustainability yearbook’ and “the only tire maker to be included at the global level” – in an analysis of around 7,700 companies carried out by S&P Global. The tire maker obtained the top score (84 points) in the ‘auto parts’ and ‘automotive’ sectors and “confirmation” in the Dow Jones Sustainability World and Europe indices.

Apollo Tyres received ISCC+ certification for its Hungary facility: supporting traceability from raw material sourcing to finished product delivery. Apollo’s target of using 40% sustainable raw materials by 2030, including renewable and recycled inputs.

UBE Elastomer launched ISCC+ certified butadiene rubber made at its Chiba plant using biomass and recycled raw materials via the mass balance method. The company said the products meet updated ISCC+ criteria and support more sustainable supply chains for customers.

Synthomer secured ISCC certification to manufacture NBR latex for the glove industry, having recently established one of the first ISCC-approved value-chains to make the product using bio-based feedstock. Eight Synthomer manufacturing sites are now ISCC+ certified.

Bridgestone EMEA achieved a ‘platinum’ rating from EcoVadis, in 2024 for a fourth consecutive year: placing it in the top 1% of around 130k companies assessed globally by EcoVadis. The rating included a 100% score in the ‘environment’ area. In 2023, Bridgestone EMEA manufacturing plants reduced their CO2eq emissions by 66% vs 2011.

Cancarb Ltd, a Tokai Carbon Group company, was awarded a ‘platinum’ rating from EcoVadis for a  second year in a row: confirming the company in the top 1% of their industry as a responsible and sustainable carbon black producer. Cancarb   added that it is “careful to remember this does not represent an end destination; the work continues in being an important contributor to Tokai Carbon Group’s ‘net-zero initiative’.

More items to follow…