4 _199 2023 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT_MICHELIN 4 NON-FINANCIAL STATEMENT Sustainable Development Report The Group's commitment to increasing materials circularity is also supported by its ability to work in cooperation with competitors. Known as coopetition, this new form of collaboration is built around a shared objective: to speed the construction of new ecosystems. In 2021, for example, Michelin and Bridgestone jointly issued a call to action during the Smithers rCB 2021 conference to enrich the recycling ecosystem for end-of-life tires and promote circularity in the rubber industry. The two main global tire leaders hope to enable and increase the use of recovered carbon black (rCB) from recycled tires. Following the call, Bridgestone and Michelin jointly published "Recovered Carbon Black Guidelines"(1), a technical white paper sharing the results of their initiative with stakeholders in the rCB community to develop a proposed global standard to increase the utilization of recovered carbon black material in tires. The shift from a linear value chain to a circular ecosystem presents a major challenge requiring a change in mindset and greater adaptability. The coopetition between Bridgestone and Michelin serves as a prime illustration of this transition. To further spur the emergence of new circular economy ecosystems, Michelin has also launched a number of projects as part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programs. These include: ● BlackCycle: Launched in April 2020, Michelin’s first European project is focused on recycling all forms of rubber-based raw materials from end-of-life tires. It brings together 13 organizations(2) in a European public-private partnership that is creating, developing and optimizing an end-to-end value chain, from ELT feedstock to secondary raw materials (SRMs), with no waste of resources at any stage and a careful focus on environmental impacts. The SRMs will be used to develop new ranges of passenger car and truck tires, which will be sold commercially in European and global markets. The consortium is based in five European countries (France, Spain, Germany, Greece and Switzerland) and includes seven industrial partners, five research & technological organizations (RTOs) and an innovation cluster. By 2023, the project had already demonstrated that it was possible to produce several tonnes of sustainable carbon black (s-CB) by replacing fossil feedstock with distilled end-of life tire pyrolysis oil. Also during the year, BlackCycle won the Recircle Award in the “Best Tyre Recycling Research Project” category(3). ● WhiteCycle(4): The second European project, launched in July 2022 and coordinated by Michelin, is building on BlackCycle’s advances by focusing on the reuse in new tires of extensively reprocessed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers derived from end-of-life tires. Its primary objective is to develop a circular solution to convert complex, multi-material, textilebased plastic waste from items such as rubber products (tires), composites (hoses) and multilayer textiles (clothing) into products with high added value. WhiteCycle is a four-year European public-private partnership comprising 16 member organizations. It envisions that by 2030 the uptake and deployment of its circular solution will lead to the annual recycling of more than two million tonnes of PET, the third most widely used plastic in the world. It is also expected to prevent the landfilling or incineration of more than 1.8 million tonnes of PET a year, while avoiding the release of around two million tonnes of CO2. In 2023, the Group continued to participate in end-of-life tire recycling programs through its active membership in a variety of industry associations, including in particular: ● The TIP: to build on the knowledge acquired in recent years on volumes and recovery methods, since 2021 the TIP has organized discussions in Europe, the United States, China and India to bring together value chain stakeholders, gain greater insight into local management and recycling issues and identify pathways to improvement. In 2023, the TIP prepared proposals for revising two international guidelines, the Harmonized System of Customs Codes and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes, to encourage the development of circular models for marketing secondary raw materials derived from end-of-life tires. ● Industry associations, including the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA), the United States Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) and the Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association (JATMA). In its joint programs with these associations, Michelin is making every effort to ensure that end-of-life tires are properly collected and processed. As part of this commitment, it supports the concept of extended producer responsibility and is exercising its influence to encourage materials recovery, which optimizes the reuse of tire components as secondary raw materials and generally offers a smaller carbon footprint than energy recovery. For more than ten years, the Group has pursued a policy of recovering and reusing all its tire manufacturing waste(5). (1) https://rcbrubber.com/. (2) Michelin, Orion Engineered Carbons, Pyrum Innovations, Quantis, CSIC-Instituto de Carboquímica (ICB), CPERI/CERTH, Sisener Ingenieros SL, Aliapur, Estato Umweltservice GmbH, HERA Holding, AXELERA, Ineris and Fundación ICAMCYL. (https://blackcycle-project.eu/). (3) https://recircleawards.com/categories/best-tyre-recycling-research-project-2023/. (4) https://www.whitecycle-project.eu/. (5) See section 4.1.1.4 e) Reducing and managing waste.
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