5 ways Michelin's sustainability promise is playing out

Michelin made a promise.

Sustainability, the company said, will take center stage. It will be woven into every aspect of the business, touching all operations, helping to drive all decisions and chart a path forward.

And all of that is because Michelin believes that sustainability is an imperative. It's critical to the future of the company, its people—customers, employees and shareholders—and the planet.

Here's a look at 5 ways Michelin's sustainability promise is playing out.

Michelin is moving mobility forward. More than that, though, the tire maker is set on shaping it into something safer and more sustainable.

And Michelin's vision for more sustainable mobility begins with hydrogen fuel cells.

For more than two decades, Michelin has invested heavily in the development and deployment of hydrogen technology. That depth of expertise will be key for Michelin in 2023 and the years ahead, as it sets out to prove the technology's viability.

The company's confidence in hydrogen's capabilities is evident through its investments. Last year, the tire maker earmarked $1 billion to expand R&D and manufacturing of fuel cell technology through Symbio—a JV that includes French automotive supplier Faurecia S.E. and, most recently, Stellantis.

And when it comes to safety, well, Michelin's driving the conversation there, too. The company's recent acquisition of RoadBotics likely will play a critical role in its efforts to create safer roadways and better infrastructure. RoadBotics also is likely to influence Michelin's connected mobility technologies.

When it comes to operations, Michelin is zeroing in on a very specific long-range goal.

Namely, zero emissions.

By 2050, the tire maker said it will achieve carbon neutrality throughout its global operations. And the goal itself is nothing new for the French company, which has for decades invested in more energy-efficient operations. Between 2005 and 2019 alone, Michelin halved the negative environmental impact of its plants.

But the company intends to go farther still, starting with an intermediate goal. By 2030, Michelin plans to cut its carbon dioxide emissions, reducing overall CO2 output by at least 50 percent when compared to the company's 2010 baseline.

And that energy efficiency is a critical component for the overall strength of the company in the year ahead, especially as it looks to manage the skyrocketing energy costs and the looming energy crisis that has resulted from Russia's war in Ukraine.

During the Goldman Sachs Global Autos conference in December, the tire maker noted that it had "hedged by 50 percent" energy prices for its European operations and secured back-up fuel sourcing. And when combined with the eco-efficient strides already in the works, the financial impact of rising energy costs also could be mitigated.

So when it comes to Michelin's overarching vision for more sustainable operations, it all comes back to the company's three-point pledge to consider people, profit and planet in all of its decisions.

Michelin—the world's largest tire maker by sales—operates more than 70 production plants globally, manufacturing 200 million tires annually.

It's no secret that Michelin takes sustainability seriously. And when it comes to its products, sustainability isn't an option.

For Michelin, sustainability is front and center. It's rolled into every tire design and development along with high expectations for safety and performance. For proof, look no further than the Pilot Sport EV tire, which earned a nod from Popular Science magazine for being among the automotive industry's most innovative and sustainable products.

And that's just the start.

Michelin last year debuted a racing tire with 53-percent bio-based and recycled content that was used in the running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was a significant achievement for the tire maker, which has pledged to embrace sustainability without compromising on performance.

Months later, though, Michelin took two more big steps forward on its sustainable products journey, introducing a passenger tire and bus tire boasting 45-percent and 57-percent sustainable materials, respectively.

And it's all part of the tire maker's "Vision" for a 100-percent sustainable, retreadable and recyclable tire.

"Anybody can make a 100-percent sustainable tire," Russell Shepherd, technical communications director for Michelin North America Inc., told Rubber News in October. "But making one with performances that are equal to or better than the current (tires)—one that people can afford—that is the real goal."

You can expect Michelin to make more strides toward this vision in 2023.

Sustainability is an inside-out kind of thing, and it starts with materials.

Yes, Michelin has its sights set on a 100-percent sustainable materials tire and intends to bring that product to the market by 2050. But that long-term aim includes a pledge to achieve a portfolio that has at least 40-percent sustainable materials usage by 2030.

As of 2021, Michelin achieved 29-percent sustainable materials usage across its entire portfolio, and that continues to move forward because Michelin doesn't seem to have a shortage of materials options.

In recent years, the company has touted its acquisitions, investments and developments in bio-sourced materials and recycling—everything from orange peels and pine resins to micronized rubber powder, recycled carbon black and recycled post-consumer plastics.

Those investments continue to play out as Michelin introduced more sustainable materials tires to the market. When the tire maker introduced tires with 45- and 57-percent sustainable materials in October, it did so noting the use of more natural rubber and bio-based materials such as sunflower oil, rice husk ash silica and bio-based resins. Recycled materials, including carbon black, also were used.

The partnerships and acquisitions that have helped to drive Michelin's materials innovation and product development strides are proving to be critical facets to its future sustainability aims.

So far, the tire maker hasn't touted any investments in alternative natural rubber sourcing or noted that it intends to lean into any alternative NRs such as guayule or dandelion. But that doesn't mean that sustainable NR isn't top-of-mind.

Michelin has been vocal about its intention to ensure that the supply chain of hevea natural rubber is sustainable, leading and backing initiatives that further this aim.

Just last month, Michelin partnered with a French sustainability group and the French government to advocate for and support more than 6,000 small rubber plantation owners across Sri Lanka.

In June, the French tire maker took full ownership of a natural rubber pilot project in Indonesia. It was a move that Michelin said furthered its long-term commitments to produce sustainable natural rubber and improve the living standards of individuals, families and communities that rely on the industry.

Since 2015, Michelin said, the Indonesian project had created 4,000 jobs, offered training services to farmers and helped to improve living standards for 50,000 inhabitants.