ITOCHU launches PROJECT TREE, the first blockchain-based natural rubber traceability & sustainability project in the world

ITOCHU Corporation has recently announced the commercial launch of PROJECT TREE, an initiative that uses a blockchain-based traceability system to ensure the sustainability and transparency of the natural rubber supply chain. This is the first attempt to establish traceability using blockchain in the natural rubber industry.

One of the aims of PROJECT TREE is to involve all of the natural rubber stakeholders, including processing companies, tire manufacturers and wholesalers/retailers, automobile manufacturers, and consumers beyond the ITOCHU Group's value chain.

As the first step of the project, ITOCHU began the distribution in the UK market in December in cooperation with Pirelli UK. Partners participating in the Project include ITOCHU’s subsidiary PT. Aneka Bumi Pratama (ABP), one of the largest Indonesian natural rubber processing companies, and the European Tyre Enterprise Limited (ETEL), one of the largest retail and wholesale tire sale companies in Europe.

PROJECT TREE is expected to contribute to the CSR policy goals of ITOCHU and to the goals of the other participating members of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), a recently established global platform for the production of sustainable natural rubber of which ITOCHU is a founding member.

Natural rubber is a natural resource that is vital in daily life. The production of tires accounts for about 70％ of global natural rubber consumption, but approximately 85% of global production relies on smallholders in Southeast Asia, mainly in Thailand and Indonesia.

The demand for natural rubber is expected to continue to grow continuously because of worldwide motorization. Therefore, it is essential that all stakeholders in the supply chain increasingly pay attention in their business activities to issues such as: