All four of South Africa’s local tyre manufacturers have committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Bridgestone South Africa, Continental Tyre South Africa, Goodyear South Africa, and Sumitomo Rubber South Africa – all members of the South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) – say they are making a collective effort to mitigate climate change.

“Climate change impacts us all and we are all demanding real action from each other,” says SATMC managing executive Nduduzo Chala.

“We are proud that SATMC and its member companies have responded to this call to take action with a range of measures aimed at reducing emissions, using energy responsibly, and cementing a circular economy to reduce and eliminate waste.”

Setting focused targets, Bridgestone has committed to reduce its absolute carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2030, when compared with 2011 as the base year.

The local Brits plant, in the North West province, has its own targets in line with the company's global objective of attaining carbon neutrality by 2050.

Continental Tyre South Africa has committed to a three-step process towards 100% climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest, along its entire value-chain of products, operational processes and supply chain. 

Phase one looks at direct emissions from its operations. Phase two will focus on the indirect emissions from purchased energy and the final phase will take into account all emissions associated with the company’s activities.

In December, 2021, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced its goal to reach net-zero value-chain greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with its local arm to also achieve this milestone in the same timeframe.

Sumitomo Rubber South Africa’s journey to net-zero is aligned with its Japanese parent company, Sumitomo Rubber Industries.

The company has declared a commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, and to achieve carbon net-zero by 2050.