Sustainable natural rubber a big goal for industry

FAIRLAWN, Ohio—The natural rubber latex industry is taking steps toward sustainability, but it's important to remember that the process has just begun.

That was the message from Whitney Luckett, founding president of Southland Rubber USA—which produces 200,000 metric tons of latex annually throughout its six manufacturing sites—at the 2019 International Latex Conference, held recently in Fairlawn, Ohio.

"Natural rubber sustainability is in its infancy," she said. "There are a lot of people—like Ford and Toyota—looking for sustainable natural rubber and recognizing where we are. We have so many different people involved in this equation that we have to be thinking about. We have to bring the needs of all these different communities together before we can really do something."

Sustainability is pushing many industries to change and natural rubber is no different. Luckett said consumers want traceability all the way back to the farmers, but in order to achieve that goal, the industry has had to come together and deeply examine the supply chain.

It's the main mission of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber, which just held its inaugural general assembly in March. GPSNR was developed by major tire makers, announcing its formation in 2017.

It now consists of representatives from nearly 40 organizations throughout the industry, including NR producers, processors, traders, auto makers, tire makers, affiliate members and non-government organizations.

"We need to define what the market needs," Luckett said. "The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber is doing that right now. It's in its infancy, but they have the right people at the table and that's what we're working on. There will be some sort of standards coming out of it."

The forum consists of members throughout the natural rubber industry, car companies like BMW, Ford, General Motors and Toyota; the world's five largest tire makers in Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental and Sumitomo, among others; NGOs like the WWF, World Resources Institute and Mighty Earth, among others; and producers like Southland Global, Scofin, Sipef, SAPH and Halcyon Agri, among others.

There also are 11 GPSNR ambassadors from the 11 natural rubber producing countries to represent the farmers who are working the fields and tapping the trees. Luckett said including them is vital to the process of finding sustainable solutions as they are the ones up at 2 a.m. tapping the trees.

The organization used the U.N.'s sustainability development goals and ISO's standards for social responsibility and environmental management as guiding forces in developing its 12 founding principles.

"This is the organization that's going to define what natural rubber sustainability is and how we're going to get there eventually," Luckett said.

Producing sustainable natural rubber is vital to many industries, particularly automotive. Luckett said because NR is pretty much a monoculture, it is very susceptible to diseases. It takes six years for a tree to mature, but if it's hit with root disease in its infancy it could take an additional seven years to recover, reducing latex yields by 30-70 percent.

Pricing issues also will continue to put stress on the natural rubber supply chain, which Luckett said are currently at near-record lows—about $1.30 per kilogram. While alternative sources like guayule have promise, right now she said they are not cost-effective replacements as the price for guayule is about $4 higher per kilogram compared to natural rubber.

Luckett said the industry is moving to think in more vertical rather than horizontal production terms, improving the quality of the yield as opposed to the quantity.

"We don't want to go around de-foresting the world," Luckett said. "It doesn't do anybody any good and it will probably accelerate climate change. There hasn't been a clear vision towards sustainability towards natural rubber. We've over-planted ourselves because the prices have basically been tanking. We're not there in terms of planting."