The Yokohama Rubber Co., has announced that it is participating as a collaborating organisation in a Japan Ministry of the Environment (MoE) project using advanced technology for evaluating and verifying sustainable procurement of natural capital from the ASEAN region, which is being implemented as one of the Japan government’s Cabinet Office programs for ‘Bridging the gap between R&D and the IDeal society (society 5.0) and Generating Economic and social value (BRIDGE).’

The Project was selected for funding by the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan (ERCA), an independent administrative institution, under its program for overseas surveys and compliance with international rules targeting the procurement of recycled resources such as metals and natural resources in foreign countries. The Project will be carried out for one year from April 2024 to March 2025.
It is being conducted by Mizuho Research & Technologies, in collaboration with Kokusai Kogyo Co., and will utilise advanced technologies, such as remote-sensing technology, to accurately grasp the size of plantations and farms, create quantitative evaluation indicators and judgment criteria for business activities related to natural capital, and develop monitoring methods with the aim of promoting sustainable procurement of raw materials and appropriate information disclosures of the use of natural capital. 

Yokohama states that as a company that procures natural rubber, it will contribute to the Project by employing its monitoring method at natural rubber plantations in Thailand.
This remote-sensing technology analyses information acquired by sensors mounted on satellites, making it possible to grasp the condition of forests, crop quality, and plant growth conditions in remote areas.
The tyre maker procures natural rubber used in a wide variety of its products from a complex supply chain composed of many small-scale rubber plantations, intermediaries, and processing plants. It therefore has become difficult for the Yokohama Group to assess and monitor risks related to environmental issues in its supply chain, such as illegal deforestation or poor water resource management, and ensuring traceability has become an issue for the Group’s promotion of sustainable procurement. 

Yokohama Rubber expects its participation in this Project to enable it to establish better monitoring and information disclosure methods that improve the traceability of natural rubber in its supply chain and accelerate its efforts to disclose information based on the recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
A founding member of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), Yokohama Rubber revised its ‘Procurement Policy for Sustainable Natural Rubber’ in September 2021 and is strengthening its collaboration with GPSNR activities. Yokohama Rubber is also endeavouring to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations. As part of these efforts, the Yokohama Rubber Group is promoting the procurement of sustainable raw materials, including natural rubber.

Kraton Corporation, a leading global producer of speciality polymers and high-value biobased products derived from by-products of pine wood pulping, has received an International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS certification for its manufacturing facility in Niort, France.

Kraton can now supply 100 percent ISCC PLUS-certified AMS and AMS Phenolics resins using a mass balance attribution approach thanks to the certification. Kraton's dedication to promoting the biobased and circular economy is further demonstrated by the Niort facility's accreditation. Kraton is committed to lowering carbon emissions and accelerating the shift to a more sustainable future by empowering clients to include more environmentally friendly products into their supply chains.

An independent multi-stakeholder project, the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is a leading certification method that guarantees accurate mass-balancing bookkeeping and reporting of renewable and recycled materials across the supply chain.

Lana Culbert, Kraton Pine Chemicals VP of Marketing, said, “Our SYLVARES™ and SYLVATRAXX™ brands feature a range of high-performance AMS and AMS Phenolics resins used in speciality adhesives and tyre applications. Our ISCC PLUS journey began in 2021 with the certification of our Sandarne, Sweden facility. Earning this certification for our Niort plant marks a significant milestone, further expanding our portfolio of sustainable solutions.”

Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. has said that it has clarified the process of rubber breakdown, a crucial element that affects tyre longevity, through joint research with Professor Gert Heinrich at Dresden University of Technology (Saxony State, Germany).

In a special session called ‘Combining Physics, Chemistry & Engineering of Rubber: A Symposium in Honor of Charles Goodyear Medalist Gert Heinrich’, which was held in honour of the Professor's medal-winning achievement, the findings were presented in an invited talk at the American Chemical Society, Rubber division, ACS 2025 Spring Technical Meeting held in Orlando, Florida, US, on 6 and 7 March. Professor Heinrich is a member of the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, which took part in the collaborative effort.

Tyre durability is determined by cracking processes, which result in the development of cracks and rips in a rubber substance. The endurance of rubber was previously mostly assessed using tearing tests, but there were still numerous unanswered concerns regarding the microscale structural alterations at the crack tip. This effort identified a factor that determines the start and propagation of cracks in rubber by analysing the force applied to a fracture tip using a simulation approach. In rubber, a crack tip undergoes dilatation deformation to create voids, or microvoids within the item. The fracture gets worse as the voids expand and come together. It was also discovered that the tension focused on the fracture tip is lessened when voids emerge.

The German Rubber Industry Association (Wdk) is advocating for a thorough and legally enforceable regulation of the end-of-waste status for Germany and the whole of Europe. The association is pusing for the circular economy to be strengthened for tyres.

Valuable secondary raw materials are still legally regarded as waste since there are no consistent standards for the end-of-waste status, according to Stephan Rau, Technical Director of the WDW. This restricts the market integration of sustainable recycled materials, impedes investments and creates legal uncertainties. “We call for a comprehensive and binding end-of-waste regulation for Germany and the whole of Europe to strengthen the recycling sector, facilitate investment in modern technologies, and sustainably reduce the CO₂ footprint of the rubber and tire industry,” he said.

In order to adhere to the prescribed waste hierarchy and stop illicit exports, Rau also emphasised that lawmakers must quantitatively and openly document waste tyre flows. He added that waste tyres should only be gathered by approved disposal companies and pre-sorted based on their intended use.

On the important role of mechanically recycled tyre granules and powder, Rau said, "This is an important secondary raw material that is already used in a variety of durable and safe products. A clearly defined end to its waste status must be made more economically viable. To ensure the market success of tyre granules, a risk-based approach to assessing chemical ingredients is essential. Binding limit values ​​must be assessed using a migration analysis, i.e. based on their bioavailability. Second, the use of tyre granule products must become mandatory in the construction industry and infrastructure projects. The goal is clear: Recycling must be economically viable."

Kuraray, a global speciality chemicals company and one of the largest suppliers of industrial polymers and synthetic microfibres, has received ISCC PLUS certification for its thermoplastic elastomers SEPTON and HYBRAR as well as Liquid Rubber produced at the Company’s Kashima Plant at Ibaraki Prefecture.

ISCC PLUS makes sure that certified products, such biomass and recycled raw materials, are appropriately handled throughout their supply chains, including the manufacturing process, by applying the mass-balance technique.

In the five years preceding up to its centenary in 2026, Kuraray is carrying out its medium-term management strategy, PASSION 2026. In order to achieve the long-term Kuraray Vision 2026 of being a speciality chemical company that grows sustainably by integrating new foundational platforms into its own technologies and contributing to customers, society and the planet, the company will keep growing its range of products that improve the natural and living environments.