No alternative in sight: Why Michelin is emphasizing sustainability of hevea

For years, tire makers have touted their investments in the exploration and cultivation of alternative natural rubbers.

Bridgestone, of course, is betting on guayule.

Continental, meanwhile, has been a pioneer in dandelion rubber research. And Goodyear, last year, said it, too, saw great potential in dandelions.

So far, though, Michelin's been mum on the alternative natural rubber front.

Just don't confuse that silence with disinterest. The company, after all, prides itself on its materials science scope and capabilities.

So it's not that the tire maker isn't doing anything. It's more that Michelin isn't ready to talk about alternative rubbers' potential just yet, Alexis Garcin, Michelin North America CEO and president, said during a media roundtable hosted by the tire maker Feb. 2.

"I can't disclose too many things around those secret processes and recipes," Garcin said about all the materials the tire maker is exploring in its pursuit of a 100-percent-sustainable materials tire, one it intends to bring to market by 2050.

What Garcin and his company can and will gladly discuss, though, is hevea and its potential to be even more sustainable. That is sustainably sourced, sustainably produced and sustainably maintained.

This includes leaning into third-party verifications, such as EcoVadis, to ensure it is partnering with truly responsible sources. Already, Michelin said, greater than 85 percent of its natural rubber supply is verified as sustainable by third parties and their rigorous metrics.

For Michelin, though, sustainability also means working to ensure that smallholders receive the support they need to care for their crops and build their livelihoods around the critical raw material.

"Michelin believes that responsible and resilient farmers are key to the success of a sustainable natural rubber industry, and is committed to empowering farmers to enable better livelihoods together with positive environmental and social practices," Michelin said on a website dedicated to its "responsible (and) resilient natural rubber" pledge.

Doing that won't be easy. It means tackling some big, systemic issues. Issues around income generation, workers' rights, health and safety, and environmental practices, among others.

"The natural rubber industry has great potential to contribute to a climate-smart future, however, there remain challenges to overcome," Michelin said. "The smallholder-dominant nature of (the) industry, which in some countries can include a complex network of intermediaries between farmer and factory, makes it difficult to achieve visibility of risk in the supply chain."

There are certainly risks with hevea. Climate change for one. Leaf blight for another. Both already have impacted yields, and they're just two of the challenges that have led industry experts to sound the alarm for more alternative natural rubber sources.

For Michelin, though, hevea isn't so much about the risk as it is about the responsibility.

"Today, the solution of alternative natural rubber is not completely obvious because we need to bring it at scale," Garcin said. "The first and fundamental action that we take is always to take care of the current (resources) we have, while preparing, potentially, some alternatives."

And right now, there are just too many unknowns surrounding alternative NRs for the tire maker to publicly join the conversation full force.