GM has announced plans to buy sustainable natural rubber for the millions of tires that it buys each year. The move will not only help drive the industry toward net-zero deforestation, but also support the small businesses that contribute 85 percent of this material.

“Our supplier partners are an extension of our company,” said Steve Kiefer, GM senior vice president of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. “We want to encourage affordable, safer and cleaner options for our customers that drive value to both our organization and the communities in which we work.”

GM believes that sourcing tires produced using sustainable natural rubber has a number of community, business and environmental benefits, like preserving and restoring primary forests, improving yield and quality for natural rubber farmers and mitigating business risk related to supply chain sourcing.

As part of the plan, GM is going to work with suppliers such as Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear and Michelin to develop appropriate transparency into natural rubber and ensure its traceability throughout the supply chain.

Source: GM