Together for transparent and sustainable supply chains in the rubber industry
“We hope that TfS, with its strong member companies, will create acceptance among the major clients – especially the automotive manufacturers – with regard to the input data for our own carbon footprint calculations. … the TfS guideline should become the standard for product carbon footprint calculations for all our suppliers.” Boris Engelhardt, CEO wdk
wdk cooperates with Together for Sustainability
Frankfurt/Main (Germany), Brussels (Belgium) 9 June 2023- The German Rubber Industry Association (wdk) has been committed to responsible procurement practices for raw materials and services in the rubber industry for many years. To advance the implementation of this goal, the industry association is now cooperating with Together for Sustainability (TfS), an international non-profit initiative that raises CSR standards across chemical companies and their suppliers.
“Thanks to Together for Sustainability, we are now a big step closer to a comparable and reliable carbon footprint calculation,” said wdk CEO Boris Engelhardt today in Frankfurt/Main. The background to this is the medium-term CO2 neutrality of all areas of life and products that is being sought by law at German and European level. This includes production sites and products of the rubber industry. Reliable calculation of the CO2 footprint in production and the end product, as well as measures to reduce it, are therefore high-priority tasks for rubber processing companies. However, they also present companies with major challenges due to their immense complexity. Since 2021, the wdk has therefore been offering its member companies the working group “Carbon Footprint Experience Exchange” to provide assistance in this area.
One example is the provision of reliable and comparable figures for calculating the Scope 3 carbon footprint. To this end, the wdk has issued a recommendation for the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) guideline from TfS. This is because only uniform global standards in supply chains ensure transparency and thus enable all parties involved – suppliers, processors, and OEMs – to reliably evaluate sustainability practices and optimize them if necessary. And it is precisely this implementation of such standards that TfS has set its sights on.
Engelhardt sees the TfS guideline as a suitable tool for achieving the necessary global availability of comparable data. “We hope that TfS, with its strong member companies, will create acceptance among the major clients – especially the automotive manufacturers – with regard to the input data for our own carbon footprint calculations. Ideally, the TfS guideline should become the standard for product carbon footprint calculations for all our suppliers.”
Dr. Veronika Beer, Head of Sustainable Development at wdk, adds, “Raw materials have a significant share in the carbon footprint of rubber products. It is usually higher than the contribution to emissions made by the production. Reliable and comparable CO2 data on raw materials are therefore an important basis for determining and improving the carbon footprint of rubber products.”
Alessandro Pistillo, Co-Chair of the TfS Scope 3 GHG emissions programme says “Having the PCF Guideline recognised as a drop-in standard for PCF determination with the rubber industry provides evidence of the versatility of the TfS methodology in the chemical sector. The recommendation of the PCF Guideline by wdk marks a major step towards the establishment of a cohesive PCF standard for chemical, plastics and rubber raw materials across multiple downstream application segments, contributing to the achievement of transparency and comparability in GHG emission accounting.”
About Together for Sustainability:
Together for Sustainability (TfS) is a procurement-driven initiative created by chemical companies with the goal of assessing, auditing, and improving the sustainability practices within their supply chains. The program is based on the UN Global Compact and Responsible Care® principles. TfS is a global organization with regional representation in Asia, North and South America. TfS develops and drives innovative responsible sourcing solutions through the global chemical industry.
The 47 TfS members represent a global turnover in the chemical industry of over €800billion and a global spend of over €500billion.
Contact for press inquiries:
Together for Sustainability
Maria De Rycke
Communications Manager
Phone +32 (0) 498 246063
maria.derycke@tfs-initiative.com
About the wdk:
The German Rubber Manufacturers Association (Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V. wdk) is the industry organization of the German manufacturers of tires and technical elastomer products. The wdk represents over 200 companies with 70,000 employees and total annual sales of more than eleven billion euros. The wdk has its headquarters in Frankfurt a.M. In addition there is a liaison office in Berlin.
Read also the interview with Boris Engelhardt on the wdk’s cooperation with TfS on the wdk blog.
Contact for press inquiries:
German Rubber Manufacturers Association (wdk)
Dr. Christoph Sokolowski
Press Spokesman
Phone +49 (0) 69 79 36-137
Contact for technical questions:
German Rubber Manufacturers Association (wdk)
Dr. Veronika Beer
Head of Sustainable Development Division
Phone +49 (0) 69 79 36-144
