From bicycle tires to condoms – natural rubber is found in many everyday products. However, this rubber, which is produced by scoring the rubber tree, is often obtained under difficult social and ecological conditions. The Fair Rubber Association, managed by Global Nature Fund, campaigns for fair prices and environmentally friendly conditions in the countries where rubber is grown. On behalf of fair rubber, GNF Managing Director Stefan Hörmann traveled to Sumatra in December 2023 to visit the rubber tappers.
23-year-old Dedi Nardiansyah starts carving the trunks of the rubber trees with his knife at four o’clock in the morning. This allows the latex juice to flow slowly into the small collection containers that the tapper has attached to the trees. He empties the containers by eleven o’clock and takes the rubber mass to a collection point. There they are weighed and sold to middlemen. Converted, the father of the family receives around EUR 90 per month. 30 EUR will be added on top. He earns this by working on a palm oil plantation in the afternoons. According to his own information, he needs at least EUR 180 a month to make ends meet with his wife and young son.
Significant improvement
The conditions for Dedi will improve significantly in the coming year. From January 2024, the bicycle tire manufacturer Schwalbe will source rubber from him and other tappers in Sumatra. The company pays a surcharge of 0.50 cents per kilo of dry rubber for this. The taps thus generate almost twice as much income as without the premium. Dedi and his colleagues will decide together how to use the bonus. To this end, they have founded a cooperative and will be producing the rubber in accordance with the sustainability criteria of the Fair Rubber Seal from January. “School uniforms, exercise books and books for our children are expensive,” says Dedi, “and organic fertilizer would also help us to achieve higher crop yields.”
Look for the “Fair Rubber” seal when shopping
By purchasing rubber products with the Fair Rubber Seal, consumers can make a contribution to improving living and environmental conditions in rubber-growing regions. In India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand, several thousand tappers and small farmers are already benefiting from fair trade in rubber.
The website of the Fair Rubber Association provides an overview of fair trade products for household, garden, bathroom, sport and leisure. Rubber gloves, flip flops, mattresses or plant pots – the items can be purchased on site or online from the manufacturers and retailers. If you shop on Amazon, you can find the products here via the Amazon Climate Pledge Friendly label.