Car Tires. Hoses. Conveyor belts. When we think of these items in our daily lives, we might think “factory-made.” But what if these essential industrial items came from somewhere else entirely?
In the lush forests of Southeast Asia, 85% of the earth’s natural rubber is being harvested and funneled through an international supply chain worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Rubber trees grow in subtropical climates across the world, but nowhere more than in Southeast Asia. To harvest rubber from the trees, they are tapped for the white substance within the bark: latex.
About 70% of the world’s natural rubber is used in car and plane tires. Projections show that by 2050, the number of cars in the world will more than double to meet a growing population’s mobility demands. While several manufacturers and governments are setting their sights on electric cars to curb emissions, electric cars will still need rubber tires. To capitalize a holistically sustainable future, we must include rubber in that vision.
Unfortunately, current methods of harvesting rubber are negatively impacting the environment. Slash and burn practices are used to clear forests so new, profitable vegetation (like rubber trees and palms) can be planted. By cutting down and burning entire forests, animals lose their habitats and the smoke can travel hundreds of miles after a burn, causing health problems for people in its wake. The impacts of unsustainable rubber plantations don’t end with the environment; workers are underpaid and overworked, and with growing pressure to increase profit, many workers have even turned to methamphetamine to increase output.
Despite these deeply concerning environmental and human rights issues, there is palpable hope and groundwork being laid for sustainable and ethical rubber production. According to the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), Southeast Asia currently leads the world in sustainable rubber practices. The PEFC has a “Chain of Custody Certification” program, a mark of approval meaning that a company’s products come from sustainably managed forest while ensuring ethical treatment of their workers.
Those looking to invest in Southeast Asia and its resources can be assured that managing a sustainable operation pays off in the long run: PEFC reports that their certified companies enjoy more support and business due to their ethical practices. “Foresters and conservationists in Thailand are proving the viability of group smallholder models in the rubber sector. They’ve shown how to successfully work with cooperatives to connect smallholders and implement sustainable forest management at the macro and the micro levels, simultaneously. Their experience also shows us how important buyer support has been to successfully mainstream certification for rubber,” the PEFC reports.
EcoBusiness goes as far as to outline preliminary steps new investors can take towards sustainable practices:
Before establishing a plantation, growers need to obtain land use permission from indigenous communities who live on or near the land, a process the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues defines as free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
It takes about seven years for a rubber tree to mature before it can produce rubber for tapping, and how the crop is planted, harvested and cleared affects the sustainability of the plantation. For example, intercropping rubber with timber trees and medicinal plants counters the ill effects of mono-culturing.
And in 2019, Singapore hosted the first general assembly for the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR). Members of the platform include manufacturers like Goodyear, Bridgestone, Michelin, BMW, General Motors, Ford Motors, and conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, Rainforest Alliance, and Conservation International. The GPSNR laid out its priorities as: “harmonizing standards to improve respect for human rights, preventing land-grabbing and deforestation, protecting biodiversity and water resources, improving yields, and increasing supply chain transparency and traceability.”
The direction forward is clear: sustainable, ethical practices are no longer some far-away hypothetical. These cutting edge practices are gaining traction in the plantations and gaining respect from businesses across the globe. The future of sustainable farming is already taking place, today, in Southeast Asia.
