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05-19-2021, 09:20 AM | #1 |
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BMW becomes first automotive manufacturer to use sustainable tires
BIMMERPOST NEWS BMW becomes first automotive manufacturer to use sustainable tires Sustainable tires for BMW X5 Plug-in Hybrid: BMW Group becomes first automotive manufacturer to use new Pirelli tires containing FSC-certified natural rubber and rayon.
Munich. The BMW Group is stepping up its activities in the field of sustainability, becoming the first automotive manufacturer worldwide to equip its cars with tires using certified sustainable natural rubber and rayon, a wood-based material used to strengthen the tires. The company will source 22-inch tires in the first instance exclusively from Pirelli and, from August of this year, will use them in the BMW X5 xDrive45e Plug-in-Hybrid. Certification of the rubber plantations and the complex supply chain for natural rubber and rayon takes place in accordance with the strict standards of the independent Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). “As a premium manufacturer, we aspire to lead the way in sustainability and take responsibility,” said Dr Andreas Wendt, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network. “We have been committed to improving cultivation of natural rubber and increasing transparency in the supplier network since 2015. The use of tires made of certified natural rubber is a pioneering achievement for our industry. In this way, we are helping preserve biodiversity and forests to counteract climate change.” Natural rubber is the basic material for many products we use in our daily lives, such as boots and mattresses. About six million small farmers worldwide are responsible for over 80% of the world’s natural rubber cultivation. In the so-called rubber belt across the tropical regions, they run farms of between one and two hectares in size under a wide variety of different conditions. Agreeing uniform social and environmental growing conditions with these millions of small individual farms is therefore a major challenge. By far the largest share of natural rubber grown worldwide goes into tire production. Natural rubber’s high elasticity and sturdiness currently make it irreplaceable for tire production. Small label, big impact As an independent organisation, FSC has developed an internationally recognised and demanding certification standard in recent years that is used worldwide for environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the forests. The organisation, whose well-known logo is already established in the wood and paper industry, also applies this standard to products made of natural rubber. The new 22-inch P ZERO « tire has now become the world's first tire to receive the coveted FSC label. To earn this certification, Pirelli adapted its US plant in Rome, Georgia, to produce tires using FSC-certified natural rubber and rayon. From there, the tires are delivered to BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, around 370 km away, and mounted on the BMW X5 Plug-in Hybrid. The star «in the name indicates that the new tire meets the BMW Group’s strict performance requirements, including particularly low rolling resistance and noise level. Giovanni Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli’s Senior Vice President for Sustainability and Future Mobility, said: “Before even reaching the road, sustainable mobility begins with raw materials. With the world’s first FSC-certified tire, Pirelli once again demonstrates its commitment to pursuing increasingly challenging goals in terms of sustainability, a testament to the constant work on innovative materials and increasingly cutting-edge production processes. We continue to invest in sustainable growth for our planet, aware that this is also essential for the future of our businesses.” Jeremy Harrison, Chief Markets Officer, FSC International, added: “The new FSC-certified Pirelli Tire is a significant milestone in the drive to deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits across the natural rubber value chain. This is a major step forward in the journey towards a more sustainable natural rubber value chain, thereby helping to mitigate deforestation and support the fight against climate change.” Long-standing commitment to greater transparency and sustainability in the natural rubber supplier network The use of the first tires containing certified sustainable natural rubber and rayon at the BMW Group is the result of the company’s extensive commitment in this area. In 2019, the BMW Group joined forces with well-known tire manufacturers, NGOs, rubber producers and consumers to create the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR). Small farmers are also represented in this initiative. The GPSNR is committed to improving social and environmental conditions for cultivation of natural rubber and pushing for more sustainability. It also implements measures to stop deforestation and make supply chains more transparent. The GPSNR currently has almost 100 members, who are responsible for about 50 percent of the global natural rubber market. Through its activities in the GPSNR and close cooperation with its suppliers, the BMW Group is constantly working to further improve sustainability in the natural rubber supply chain. The BMW Group is stepping up these activities and plans to steadily expand its sourcing of tires made from sustainably grown natural rubber. The BMW Group has been working with the FSC organisation for many years (Licence code FSC-N002012). The company decided to use FSC-certified wood in the BMW i3, which was first launched onto the market in 2013. The BMW iX for release later this year will also feature FSC-certified wood. In 2017, the BMW Group and FSC advocated for further development of FSC standards for cultivation of natural rubber in Thailand. Sustainability an integral part of all purchasing activities Independently of these measures, the BMW Group has contractually obligated all its direct suppliers to respect human rights, comply with expanded environmental and social standards and to introduce management systems to promote occupational safety and protect the environment since 2014. This also includes protecting forests and biodiversity. These requirements must also be contractually passed on to subcontractors. BMW Group Purchasing does not rely on contractual obligations alone for this but is also implementing a large number of additional measures in a transparent process. A risk filter is used to evaluate potential supplier locations worldwide even before the call for bids. The next step is to require possible suppliers to outline their sustainability activities in a detailed questionnaire. External partners also work with internal appraisers to review selected locations. Throughout the contract period, external partners work with internal appraisers to verify compliance with sustainability requirements through questionnaires and audits. In this way, BMW Group Purchasing is able to monitor thousands of locations every year. Sustainable mobility with the BMW X5 xDrive45e The BMW Group has completed full lifecycle CO2 certification for the BMW X5 xDrive45e – from raw material procurement, through the supply chain, production and use phase, all the way to recycling. If charged during the use phase with the average European electricity mix, this gives it an advantage of around 40 percent over the BMW X5 xDrive40i. If charged with green power, the advantage is around 70 percent. The electric range amounts to 77-88 kilometres (WLTP).
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05-19-2021, 09:32 AM | #2 |
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I wonder what the life cycle of the tire is? Static degradation, mileage warranty, puncture resistance...
Promising news and would be good provided noone has to replace these tires every 10k-15k miles. |
05-19-2021, 09:40 AM | #3 |
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Who cares if they're sustainable? If they're still putting runflats on SUV's as standard it's nothing more than a marketing ploy disguised as another marketing ploy. Ditch the dumb tire technology and use normal tires.
Sustainability doesn't mean that replacement will be cheaper for the customer. |
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05-19-2021, 09:46 AM | #4 | |
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05-19-2021, 09:56 AM | #5 |
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Ok? And that matters to me how if a "sustainable" runflat replacement costs 300?
Unless the customer sees the benefits of any tire tax credit it doesn't matter. |
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05-19-2021, 09:57 AM | #6 | |
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05-19-2021, 10:04 AM | #7 | |
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05-19-2021, 10:23 AM | #8 | |
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Absurd position. |
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05-19-2021, 10:29 AM | #9 | |
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05-19-2021, 10:47 AM | #11 | ||
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Give me a non - Tesla performance electric car with good range & fast charging times. FSD would be the cherry on top for under 100K. Hell, throw in those electric tax credits as well. That's what I call a sustainable product that contributes to lower carbon emissions. Your defense is an absurd position. |
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05-19-2021, 11:07 AM | #12 | |
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“Unless the customer sees the benefits of any tire tax credit it doesn't matter.” If you can’t understand the bigger picture of why this is a ridiculous statement, I won’t be able to explain it to you. |
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05-19-2021, 11:21 AM | #13 | |
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05-19-2021, 11:58 AM | #14 | |
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05-19-2021, 12:01 PM | #15 | |
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They're not saying they made any ground breaking developments in tire compound chemistry here. We know that natural rubber and rayon were already being used in tires. The FSC certification around the natural rubber and rayon used in the process is the news. In general, that means they are ensuring the trees were harvested using responsible methods (this may have been the case half the time already), but more importantly that the supply chain for the material was documented meticulously to make sure that these were indeed the material used for the item bearing the FSC logo. FSC will have certain percentages the manufacturer has to meet, so it's not like they could just source the FSC materials, apply the procedures needed for FSC certification, use the same formula, and say they're covered across the board. If they have to use 30% FSC certified natural rubber to have an FSC logo on the tire, they may simply not be able to make a summer performance tire (at least not without substantial amounts of R&D which they would have been touting).
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05-19-2021, 12:20 PM | #16 | |
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05-19-2021, 01:05 PM | #17 | |
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If I buy a new car I'm not looking at any maintenance costs for the first three years, but that doesn't mean that I want to spend that money on tires. What's the point if they make a sustainable runflat if I go through 4 tires every year and am being forced to buy tire insurance? If they told me we have a sustainable, non-RFT tire that's more durable than a standard tire, sure, I'm on board. But don't say cost isn't the only thing that matters because they make consumer products. Without the consumer they don't exist. They are not producing renewable energy facilities they live for the financial quarter. |
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05-19-2021, 02:27 PM | #20 |
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If cost was the only thing that mattered you wouldn't be driving a BMW
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