Groupe Michelin has entered into a partnership with Barito Pacific Group to produce a natural, eco-friendly rubber through reforestation on nearly 88,000 hectares of land, Tyres & Accessories reported. The tiremaker invested $55 million for a 47% share in the venture.
Michelin and Barito will plant rubber trees on half the area, land in the provinces of Jambi and North East Kalimantan Timur. The other half the land will be earmarked for re-creating a natural environment and community for crops, T&A reported.
Michelin has also teamed up with the WWF. The tiremaker entered a four-year partnership with the group in April 2015.
According to Tyres & Accessories, the partnership encompasses three different things;
- The global promotion of best practices in rubber tree plantation and extraction and transformation of latex.
- A partnership with WWF France and WWF Indonesia for researching and establishing best solutions in plantation zones.
- A targeted partnership with WWF France Foundation that involves the protection, conservation and restoration operations for the fauna and flora within and around the concession zones.
