PROJECT TREE Overview
PROJECT TREE Overview
PROJECT TREE Overview
PROJECT TREE Overview

PROJECT TREE Transparent Rubber Ecosystem for Earth

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PROJECT TREE
Click here for an introduction to PROJECT TREE

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Sustainable Natural Rubber for a Sustainable Future

The natural rubber industry has long been reliant on nature and local farmers working hard to produce enough rubber. However, with growing demand we increasingly encounter negative impacts such as illegal logging, unsustainable farming techniques and human rights challenges. To meet future demand ethically the industry must be more transparent and sustainable; vital to protect the environment and long term viability of livelihoods for so many people.

We are committed to evolving our natural rubber business with an approach that is fairer to all stakeholders and more sustainable for the natural environment, so that our natural rubber supply chain becomes a model of sustainability for the world. Our proprietary traceability system, for example, enables us to track and inspect our entire supply chain. Alongside this, our SDGs activities for a sustainable future will also bring added value to the supply chain which in turn will benefit our suppliers in various ways.

Our ambition is that all our stakeholders, customers and the whole of society benefit from a greener and more equitable natural rubber industry. As a player in the supply chain, we will continually develop and enhance more sustainable approaches for the natural rubber business.

  • Activity Report
  • News
Report

August 2024

PROJECT TREE 5th Joint Pool Account (Cut-off March 2024)

A total of 461 smartphones were distributed to 461 smallholders under 8 Collectors. Smartphones are expected to accelerate smallholder’s account completion in PROJECT TREE traceability system, especially for polygon registration.

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Report

August 2024

PROJECT TREE Sustainability Activity Quarterly Report (April - June 2024)

Community empowerment is our key to scale up smallholder participation in PROJECT TREE. During the second quarter in 2024, we engaged 1663 Smallholders (Male 1248, Female 415). As of 30 June 2024, total 10,717 smallholders participated in the project (8,732 Male and 1,985 Female).

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Report

May 2024

PROJECT TREE Sustainability Activity Quarterly Report (January - March 2024)

Entering 2024, we continue to move towards embracing more farmers into PROJECT TREE. We engaged 1,133 Smallholders (Male 920, Female 213) in the first quarter. As of 31 March 2023, total 9,054 smallholders participated and assessed in PROJECT TREE (7,484 Male, 1,570 Female).

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announcement

April 2024

ITOCHU Announces Sumitomo Rubber Group's Participation in PROJECT TREE
— Continuing to promote the project for the traceability and sustainability of natural rubber, a raw material of tires —

ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has concluded an agreement with SUMITOMO RUBBER SINGAPORE PTE.

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announcement

December 2022

System Development (trace up to Smallholders) has been completed

In August, Project TREE has developed the traceability system into Phase 3 where smallholders are involved in the transaction chain.

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announcement

September 2022

PROJECT TREE is launched in Japan with Yanase and Continental

PROJECT TREE has been launched in Japanese market through Yanase’s network over 230 sales offices in Japan with Continental Tire.

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Comments on PROJECT TREE

GPSNR

WWF

WWF acknowledges ITOCHU’s leadership to make its natural rubber supply chain transparent and sustainable, and to develop an approach how the downstream …

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Preferred by Nature

Supported by

Proforest

Organizations Associated with This Project

Pirelli UK

Hankook

Continental

YANASE

SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES

MIZUHO

WWF

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is the world's largest international non-governmental organization that works to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature by conserving the world’s biological diversity; ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable; and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

WWF acknowledges ITOCHU’s leadership to make its natural rubber supply chain transparent and sustainable, and to develop an approach how the downstream rubber supply chain can share the responsibility for these urgently needed tasks.

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Proforest

Proforest is a not-for-profit organisation with global presence that has established itself as a leader in the development and implementation of sustainable production and sourcing of agricultural and forestry commodities, including soy, sugar, palm oil, cocoa, beef and timber. We support the transition to commodity production and sourcing that delivers positive social and environmental outcomes for people and the planet through supporting companies, effective collaboration and developing knowledge and capacity building.​

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SNV

SNV is a not-for-profit international development organization that makes a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty by helping them raise incomes and access basic services in three sectors: Agriculture, WASH, and Energy. SNV supports the transition to a zero-deforestation and sustainable production system by increasing smallholder plantations’ productivity, including rubber and palm oil. SNV assists the development and strengthening of farmer institutional to ensure impact at scale and effective transfer of knowledge to improve the ability of smallholders to organize themselves. SNV also supports private sectors in the supply chain, including ITOCHU/PT ABP, to ensure sources from smallholders are produced responsibly and sustainably.

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GPSNR

Enhancing traceability and transparency is crucial in our goal of a fair, equitable and sustainable natural rubber supply chain. Project TREE’s work in developing a holistic traceability system is a commendable effort towards this larger goal. Furthermore, Project TREE current implementation of Risk Assessment, Risk Mitigation, and Capacity Building for smallholders, is well aligned with the current GPSNR workstreams. Project TREE is moving towards GPSNR’s target and we strongly believe that this, along with efforts by other GPSNR members, has the potential to positively and systemically transform the supply chain.

IBAT

The Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) is an alliance between BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN, and UNEP-WCMC. IBAT delivers globally authoritative data for commercial application including The World Database on Protected Areas, World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas and The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. IBAT's vision is that access to authoritative biodiversity data results in organisations taking positive action for nature.

The reach and impact of IBAT is amplified by licensing biodiversity data to support other organisations as they develop and implement innovative solutions to society's challenges. IBAT welcomes the use of biodiversity data by ITOCHU Corporation in their approach to improving the transparency and sustainability of their natural rubber supply chain.

Pirelli UK

Pirelli UK has joined forces with ETEL to work on the sale of PROJECT TREE supporting Tyres, with particular appreciation of its innovative block chain and traceability approach to the supply of natural rubber.

For several years, Pirelli has adopted a policy for the sustainable management of natural rubber and is engaged in activities, within different perimeters, to support natural rubber sustainability initiatives, as in the case of the project joined by Pirelli UK.

Hankook

Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) is a global leading tire company operating in over 180 countries.
Based on unparalleled pursuit of innovation and technological excellence, Hankook Tire produces exceptional quality, high-performance radial tires for passenger cars, 4x4s, SUVs, light trucks, campers, trucks, buses and motorsport vehicles. Hankook Tire has eight production sites and five R&D centers around the world, with about 20,000 highly dedicated professionals.
With sustainability at its core, Hankook Tire is dedicated to making the world a better place.
As a part, Hankook Tire continues fostering sustainability across its value chain for natural rubber, a primary raw material for tires. In 2018, Hankook Tire established a sustainable natural rubber policy, and updated the policy in accordance with GPSNR policy framework in 2021.
As a member of the GPSNR, Hankook Tire is committed to legal compliance, community livelihoods, healthy, functioning ecosystems, and respecting all human rights in natural rubber procurement and production. Since December 2021, Hankook Tire is taking part in PROJECT TREE with an aim to improve smallholders’ living standards, upgrade quality of natural rubber and minimize environmental impact.

Continental

Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. Continental currently employs more than 190,000 people in 58 countries and markets. On October 8, 2021, the company celebrated its 150th anniversary.

MIZUHO

Mizuho, as a financial group, will especially focus on indirect impacts we generate through provision of financial and other services and through engagement with clients.. We will provide our clients with multi-faceted support for initiatives addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns.
Mizuho acknowledges ITOCHU’s leadership to make its natural rubber supply chain transparent and sustainable and PROJECT TREE itself as well, and we will consider providing support to our clients based on the above basic approach to “sustainability”

YANASE

Yanase handles 4 business divisions, Imported new car sales division, After-sales service division, Used car sales division, and Financial and Insurance business division with the company philosophy, “Always with a sense of gratitude, we present top-quality products, services and skills to our customers so that they may realize the life with automobile fulfilled with ‘dreams’ and ‘excitement’”.

We were established in 1915 and have been expanding the network in Japan with more than 230 sales offices, and we achieved more than 2.1 mil of new car sales until now.

Since our establishment, the most important thing we keep in mind is “the appreciation to our customers”.

In order to further deepen and strengthen “the circle of trust with customers” that we have built through our long history and tradition over 100 years, We keep on the challenge of providing society with a higher quality car life through the creation of new value by anticipating the changes.

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Preferred by Nature

Preferred by Nature is a non-profit organisation that supports better land management and business practices that benefit people, nature, and the climate. We do this through a unique combination of sustainability certification services, projects supporting awareness raising, and capacity building. Preferred by Nature is committed to protecting natural resources and supporting responsible trade of climate and forest impact commodities. We are currently working with the rubber sector in Asia and Latin America and are also an active member of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR).

Preferred by Nature is not directly involved in the Project Tree, but we compliment the project’s focus on addressing sustainability issues in the rubber sector by engaging directly with smallholder farmers who comprise a large share of natural grown rubber. Supporting smallholders to produce the materials in a more responsible way will help improve the sector’s environmental & social credentials and this needs joint efforts from project like this and multi-stakeholders and partners.

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SUMITOMO
RUBBER INDUSTRIES

Since our founding in 1909, the Sumitomo Rubber Group has created numerous Japan-first and world-first products and technologies, from manufacturing Japan’s first domestic automobile tire in 1913 to developing the world’s first 100% fossil resource-free tires and more. Taking full advantage of our advanced proprietary rubber technologies, the Sumitomo Rubber Group is actively engaged in the global manufacture and sale of various types of tires for passenger cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles under our flagship DUNLOP and FALKEN brands. In addition to our main Tire Business, we also operate a Sports Business and an Industrial Products Business, manufacturing and selling everything from golf balls and clubs to dock fenders and medical rubber stoppers worldwide. We aim for sustainable raw material procurement for natural rubber in the ”Material Development & Procurement” process of Circular Economy Concept for the Tire Industry ”TOWANOWA. We will continue to proactively promote initiatives in collaboration with all the stakeholders, including those making up the supply chain, to achieve a society where natural rubber is sustainable.

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