Before I joined Goodyear in early 2024, the company’s commitment to sustainability and delivering value for its customers and other stakeholders stood out to me as being clear and unwavering, and something I wanted to be part of. Our associates around the world agree, and they continuously demonstrate their passion for helping to create a better future.

In 2023, Goodyear celebrated our 125th anniversary, a milestone made possible by the dedication and ingenuity of Goodyear associates around the world. Looking back at our history, it’s clear that our dedication to building a stronger tomorrow for all stakeholders has long been central to who we are.

At Goodyear, we define sustainability as responsibly balancing environmental, societal and financial demands without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. We are committed to ethical and sustainable practices designed to protect our people and the planet, and we are dedicated to providing a safe, inclusive and healthy workplace. Sustainability is not just something we talk about; it is an integral part of our business strategy.

OUR APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY

With sustainability core to our business, we can identify and achieve sustainable outcomes. Our teams work cross functionally to develop strategies that address our opportunities. In 2021, we adopted a sustainability maturity model to inform, guide and advance our work. We regularly connect internally to see how we are tracking against this model—recognizing our wins, mapping out where we are against key milestones and discussing our obstacles, as well as the strategies we need to have in place to overcome them.

We use industry frameworks, the double materiality assessment process, stakeholder feedback and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide our strategy, outline our ambitions and opportunities, and address problems we are looking to solve.

And we also recognize that we cannot do this work alone.

Our teams meet regularly with our customers to learn about their own sustainability strategies, engaging in conversations on how we can collaborate to help drive progress to help all of us meet our goals. We look for ways we can grow and make strides along our respective sustainability journeys together. This mindset also extends to our partners: suppliers, organizations, educational and research entities. Through open dialogue, the exchange of ideas, informational sessions and continuous learning, we can identify companies that have similar goals and ambitions and are committed to environmental and social responsibility.

A LOOK BACK AT 2023

In November 2023, we announced Goodyear Forward, our transformation plan designed to optimize our portfolio, deliver margin expansion and strengthen our financial profile to drive sustainable value creation. Goodyear Forward will make us a stronger company, positioned to grow in markets and new mobility. Even as our team executes on our Goodyear Forward plan, our work in other areas does not stop. This includes the progress we are making in sustainability.

We began 2023 by announcing we would sell a tire with up to 70 percent sustainable materials by year end, and our team delivered on that promise. Through agility, collaboration with our supply base and an embodiment of a one-team mindset, we were able to introduce the EcoReady, a tire with 70 percent sustainable-material content. The introduction of this product, currently in market in the United States, puts us one step closer toward our 2030 goal of introducing the industry’s first 100 percent sustainable-material tire. 

In 2023, we received validation of our near- and long-term climate targets—reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 46 percent and certain Scope 3 emissions by 28 percent by 2030 and reaching net-zero value chain greenhouse gas emissions by 2050—by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This validation further strengthens our sustainability commitments as our team continues to make meaningful progress in executing against our decarbonization strategy.

In March 2023, we implemented our updated Global Human Rights Policy, which illustrates our full commitment to both maintaining an inclusive workplace and value chain, as well as our commitment to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Our protection and upholding of human rights are core company values and reflects how we work.

We continue to cultivate an inspiring culture. Not only did our associates give back to the communities they serve by logging more than 13,400 volunteer hours with over 120 non-profit organizations, but we also saw our Employee Resource Group (ERG) membership grow year over year by nearly 15 percent with more than 4,000 associates participating in one or more of our eight ERGs.

And, while it was an honor that was received in early 2024, I would be remiss if I didn’t share that Goodyear was named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere. An award like this indicates that we are living our values, acting with integrity and doing the right things, the right way.

There is so much to be proud of as we look back at 2023; yet, recognizing our accomplishments also means we must acknowledge that there are also opportunities to improve and grow. It is through continuous improvement that we will be able to reach our collective goals.

There is nothing more important than safety, and our safety rating is not where we want it to be. And we will only be satisfied when our serious incident (SI) rate is at zero. We need to continue to enhance our culture of safety, and we are doing this by taking the actions needed to further our goal of eliminating all serious injuries and fatalities in our workplace. We are increasing our investments in safety—implementing new approaches, mitigating risks and increasing our internal communication around this vital topic. We remain vigilant, and all our associates have a role to play and are committed to helping us reach our goal of zero.

There is more work to do as we increase our focus on circularity. It is a complex topic and one in which collaboration will be critical. We have formed a dedicated team that is working on identifying circular and end-of-life tire solutions. This is hard, but exciting work that will have a tremendous impact on the industry. I look forward to seeing the results. We will report on this topic for years to come. 

We will also continue to work with our supply base to secure raw material volumes as we look toward introducing more products with higher sustainable-material content. This requires us to actively engage with our suppliers to identify new technologies that are renewable, recyclable or biobased and bring them to scale. This is another strong example of how we cannot reach our ambitious goals on our own.

LOOKING AHEAD

Learning is critical, and I ask our team every day to always be learning—generating new ideas, identifying challenges and discussing them to come up with solutions. A sustainability journey will not be smooth sailing. There will be bumps in the road and new hurdles to climb, but we are in this together. We are looking at everything from new product development to navigating an ever-evolving regulatory landscape to ensure we are continuing to provide sustainable value for our stakeholders for another 125 years and beyond.

I could not be prouder of our associates and the progress Team Goodyear is making toward our sustainability goals. We have set the bar high, but I am confident that we have the strategic mindset and passion to achieve our goals.