Apollo Tyres Ltd is India’s second-largest tyre manufacturer and the fifteenth largest globally, operating production facilities in India (Chennai, Vadodara, Andhra Pradesh, Kalamassery) and the Netherlands (Enschede, under the Vredestein brand), with consolidated revenue of INR 26,123 crore in FY2025, reflecting 3% year-on-year growth despite market headwinds. The company published its FY2025 Sustainability Report in July 2025, aligned with GRI Standards, BRSR (India’s Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report mandatory framework), and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) double materiality methodology, marking the second consecutive year of Double Materiality Assessment disclosure. Apollo’s sustainability framework is structured across three pillars: Environment, Social, and Governance, governed by a dedicated Board-level Sustainability Committee and managed through a formal Sustainability Roadmap with binding FY2026 intensity targets and a 2030 material milestone.
Apollo Tyres received an EcoVadis Gold Rating in June 2025, placing it in the top 5% of over 130,000 globally assessed companies, with an overall score of 76/100 reflecting five-year improvement from the 41 score at the 41st percentile in FY2020 to the 95th percentile in FY2025. The company also secured CDP A- ratings for both Climate Change and Water Security in December 2025, the only combined Climate and Water A- rating confirmed among Indian tyre manufacturers in this report series.
Source
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/sustainability-and-ethics/policy-and-documents/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/sustainability-and-ethics/health-safety-and-environment/climate-change/
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/ecovadis-gold-rating/
Sustainability Strategy and Goals
Apollo Tyres’ formal sustainability strategy aligns with the UN SDGs, the UN Global Compact principles, and India’s BRSR framework, with binding FY2026 intensity milestones for GHG, renewable energy, and water as the near-term checkpoint and a 2030 circular material milestone as the key product transformation goal. The strategy is governed by a Board Sustainability Committee, supported by an executive-level sustainability steering function, and operationalised through the Climate Change and Decarbonisation Roadmap, the Circular Economy Programme, the Biodiversity and Water Policy, and the Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy. Apollo applied to SBTi in FY2024 for validated absolute near-term targets and as of the FY2025 Sustainability Report, is working toward realigning its FY2026 intensity targets into SBTi-compliant absolute reduction commitments.
Net Zero and Carbon Emissions
Apollo Tyres targets carbon neutrality by 2050 across its full value chain and has established FY2026 intensity reduction targets for Scope 1 and Scope 2 as the first binding milestone in its decarbonisation roadmap. The company applied to SBTi in FY2024 and is working to transition from intensity-based near-term targets to SBTi-validated absolute targets, with the announcement of confirmed absolute near-term targets described as imminent in the December 2025 CDP A- release.
- Total Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions were 668,583 tCO2e in FY2025, comprising Scope 1 at 275,902.5 tCO2e and market-based Scope 2 at 257,671.4 tCO2e, with location-based Scope 2 at 392,680.5 tCO2e, confirming partial but not yet complete renewable electricity procurement.
- Total Scope 1 and 2 emissions increased 8.01% in FY2025 versus FY2024, with the FY2024 total at 800,311 tCO2e (including Scope 3 at 197,372.8 tCO2e), partly reflecting capacity expansion impacts.
- Apollo reduced combined Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity by 5.5% in FY2024 compared to FY2023, tracking its FY2026 target of 25% Scope 1 intensity reduction and 35% Scope 2 intensity reduction both against a FY2020 baseline.
- Apollo’s Chennai plant was recognised by the Clean Energy Ministerial and FICCI for excellence in energy and water efficiency, the only Apollo facility to receive this external industry award as of FY2025.
- Scope 3 GHG emissions were 197,372.8 tCO2e in FY2025, stable versus FY2024, with the disclosure covering a consistent set of upstream categories under the GHG Protocol, with full 15-category coverage not yet confirmed in sources reviewed.
Water Stewardship
Apollo Tyres achieved a 28% reduction in water withdrawal intensity in FY2025, exceeding its own FY2026 target of 25% reduction against a FY2019 baseline, making water efficiency the most successfully delivered FY2026 commitment in Apollo’s Sustainability Roadmap as of March 2026.
- Water withdrawal intensity reduction of 28% in FY2025 against a 25% FY2026 target from a FY2019 baseline represents the clearest overachievement among Apollo’s four FY2026 sustainability milestones.
- Apollo published a dedicated Water Policy in October 2025, the company’s first standalone water governance document, covering enhanced contributions to local water ecosystems, alignment with business goals, and reduction of freshwater withdrawal per unit of production across all manufacturing sites.
- The Chennai plant’s recognition by the Clean Energy Ministerial and FICCI specifically covered water efficiency alongside energy efficiency, confirming that operational water management at Apollo’s largest Indian plant is validated at the highest domestic institutional level.
- Apollo’s CDP A- Water Security rating for 2025 confirms that its water governance, data quality, and reduction programme meet the second-highest CDP water assessment tier, placing Apollo as the only Indian tyre manufacturer with a combined CDP Climate and Water A- rating.
Regenerative Agriculture
Apollo Tyres’ Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy, published in version 3.0 and aligned with GPSNR policy components, covers deforestation prevention, High Conservation Value and High Carbon Stock forest protection, land rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, and full supply chain traceability from plantation to production.
- Apollo mandates elimination of deforestation and ecosystem conversion in its natural rubber supply chain, applying the GPSNR April 1, 2019 cutoff date as the compliance baseline, aligning with both EUDR and GPSNR standards.
- Apollo’s Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy version 3.0 requires all natural rubber suppliers to protect High Conservation Value areas, High Carbon Stock forests, and the customary land rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP/LC) in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Apollo participates in the GPSNR and aligns its NR procurement standards with GPSNR Policy Components covering all seven sections: Labour and Human Rights, Business Conduct, Environment, Smallholder Inclusion, Supply Chain Traceability, Monitoring and Verification, and Complaints Mechanism.
- With 70% of global natural rubber output directed to tyre manufacturing, Apollo’s commitment to the elimination of deforestation and ecosystem conversion in its supply chain is explicitly positioned as a global biodiversity protection commitment rather than a compliance requirement.
Deforestation and Biodiversity
Apollo Tyres is one of the few tyre manufacturers to have conducted active biodiversity restoration fieldwork rather than limiting its biodiversity commitment to supply chain policy. Its Kerala mangrove conservation programme, conducted in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India, has restored mangrove ecosystems in Kunhimangalam village, Kannur district, addressing coastal biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and community resilience simultaneously.
- Apollo’s mangrove conservation project in Kerala, implemented in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India, restores degraded mangrove ecosystems in Kannur district, a region where mangrove loss had reduced coastal biodiversity and exposed communities to storm surge vulnerability.
- Apollo’s Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy explicitly prohibits NR sourcing from areas where deforestation, degradation of High Conservation Values, or ecosystem conversion has occurred, with the GPSNR 2019 cutoff date embedded as the enforcement baseline.
- Apollo’s Environment Policy 2025 formally commits the company to protection of the ecosystem surrounding its facilities, covering both operational site biodiversity management and upstream supply chain ecosystem requirements.
- Apollo has confirmed biodiversity initiatives as a component of its CSR and social contribution programmes across multiple years, treating mangrove and forest conservation as a measurable ESG output rather than a reputational narrative.
Packaging and Circular Economy
Apollo Tyres targets 40% sustainable raw material content in all tyres by 2030, split across 30% bio-based and 10% recycled inputs. The 75% sustainable material concept agricultural tyre presented in 2023 established Apollo’s highest product development milestone, and the FY2024 share of recycled raw materials in production was 4.8% of all raw materials used.
- The 75% sustainable material concept agricultural tyre (2023) uses recycled rubber, rCB from ELT pyrolysis, bio-based oil, recycled nylon, and bead wire with higher recycled steel content, with base polymers sourced from GPSNR-certified bio-circular feedstock, covering nine compounding ingredient categories.
- Recycled raw material content in total production was 4.8% in FY2024, with reclaimed rubber constituting 42% of all recycled content in that year, confirming that reclaim rubber is the dominant circular material in current commercial production.
- Apollo is investing in R&D and manufacturing capability to deliver the 40% by 2030 target, with the 30%/10% bio-material/recycled material split defining the expected composition of the target portfolio.
- Apollo’s Hungary plant (Enschede Vredestein facility covered under Hungary entity for ISCC purposes) achieved ISCC PLUS certification in July 2025, enabling mass-balance documentation of sustainable material inputs across its European manufacturing operations.
- Apollo’s Andhra Pradesh plant operates entirely on biomass energy, making it the only fully biomass-powered large-scale tyre manufacturing plant in South Asia, establishing a unique operational renewable energy benchmark in the Indian tyre industry.
Human Rights and Responsible Sourcing
Apollo Tyres’ human rights commitment is embedded in its Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy, its Supplier Code of Conduct, and its EcoVadis-aligned governance framework, covering labour rights, community land tenure, anti-forced labour, and supplier ESG assessments aligned with UNGC principles. The FY2025 EcoVadis score of 80/100 in Labour and Human Rights, up from 70 in FY2024, is the highest confirmed single-category EcoVadis score in Apollo’s disclosure history.
- Apollo’s EcoVadis Labour and Human Rights score increased from 70 to 80 points between FY2024 and FY2025, driven by inclusive labour policies, livelihood programmes for local community women, and expanded human rights training across the employee base.
- Apollo’s Ethics score improved from 50 to 63 points between FY2024 and FY2025, reflecting strengthened ethics and compliance programmes, anti-corruption controls, and systematic improvements to transparency mechanisms.
- Apollo’s global employee engagement score was 87% in FY2024, and the recordable work-related injury rate fell to 0.39 per 200,000 hours worked in FY2024, compared to 0.58 in FY2023, confirming a 32.8% improvement in safety performance year-on-year.
- Apollo’s Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy version 3.0 requires free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities for any activities that might affect their land tenure rights, applying the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the legal baseline.
Nutrition and Health
Apollo Tyres’ health management framework focuses on occupational health and safety across all manufacturing sites, with third-party verified injury rate metrics and an OHSAS 18001 / ISO 45001-certified safety management system deployed at all plants.
- Apollo Tyres earned ISO 45001 occupational health and safety certification in its eleventh consecutive year in FY2024, a consistent external validation of its safety management system across all manufacturing operations.
- The recordable work-related injury rate fell 32.8% year-on-year to 0.39 per 200,000 hours worked in FY2024, and Apollo’s global engagement score of 87% reflects a workforce environment where safety and wellbeing are substantively embedded in operational culture.
Community and Social Impact
Apollo Tyres’ community impact spans India (Kerala, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, Vadodara, Kalamassery), the Netherlands, and Hungary, with programmes in mangrove conservation, women’s livelihood development, and local ecosystem management.
- Apollo’s mangrove conservation programme in Kerala, in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India, directly benefits coastal fishing communities in Kannur district through restored storm protection, increased fish nursery habitat, and community involvement in mangrove stewardship.
- Apollo’s livelihood programmes for women in local communities around its Indian production sites were specifically cited in the FY2025 EcoVadis assessment as drivers of the Labour and Human Rights score improvement, confirming that community economic inclusion is an operationally managed sustainability output.
- Apollo’s commitment to improve gender diversity to 12% globally by FY2026 is the only formal Diversity and Inclusion target in the FY2026 Sustainability Roadmap, framing inclusion as a numerical accountability commitment rather than an aspiration.
Governance and Transparency
Apollo Tyres’ governance infrastructure includes a Board Sustainability Committee, Double Materiality Assessment (conducted first in FY2024 and repeated in FY2025 in line with CSRD), third-party GHG verification under BRSR and CDP, and alignment with both GRI Standards and India’s SEBI BRSR mandatory reporting framework. Apollo is simultaneously navigating BRSR compliance for Indian listed company requirements and CSRD alignment for its European Vredestein operations, making it one of a small number of Asian tyre manufacturers managing dual-jurisdiction ESG regulatory compliance.
- Apollo’s Double Materiality Assessment, first conducted in FY2024 and repeated in FY2025, reflects the company’s preparation for mandatory CSRD compliance at its Enschede, Netherlands plant, placing Apollo ahead of most Indian manufacturers in European regulatory sustainability alignment.
- Apollo’s EcoVadis overall score trajectory from 41/100 (41st percentile) in FY2020 to 76/100 (95th percentile) in FY2025 over five years represents the largest absolute EcoVadis score improvement among the five tyre manufacturers in this series over a comparable period.
- CDP A- for both Climate Change and Water Security in December 2025, covering both operational GHG and water governance, establishes Apollo as the only Indian tyre manufacturer with dual CDP A-level ratings and the only manufacturer in this report series to hold combined climate and water leadership ratings simultaneously.
Technology and Innovation
Apollo’s sustainable technology portfolio spans five active programmes: bio-based and bio-circular synthetic rubber from GPSNR-certified feedstocks, rCB from ELT pyrolysis, recycled PET cord, rice husk ash silica, and biomass energy in the Andhra Pradesh plant as a fully deployed renewable energy technology.
- The 75% sustainable material concept agricultural tyre presented in 2023 demonstrates that Apollo’s product R&D capability at the highest sustainable content level is already established for off-road categories, with base polymers sourced from GPSNR-certified bio-circular feedstock covering both natural rubber and synthetic rubber inputs.
- Apollo’s Andhra Pradesh production facility runs entirely on biomass energy, the most advanced single-plant renewable energy deployment model in the Indian tyre industry and a commercially demonstrated template for coal-free tyre manufacturing.
- Apollo’s Hungary ISCC PLUS certification (July 2025) enables mass-balance chain-of-custody documentation for sustainable materials used in Vredestein-branded passenger car and EV tyres produced for the European market, directly supporting ESPR compliance readiness at its European manufacturing location.
- Apollo’s Vredestein brand EV tyre programme, drawing on the Enschede R&D centre’s expertise in all-season performance engineering, applies advanced compound design and sustainable material integration for the European premium replacement and OE market, positioning Apollo’s European operations at the forefront of sustainable EV tyre development.
- Apollo’s R&D capital expenditure was INR 635.67 million in FY2024, with sustainable material development a formally tracked investment category, confirming that the 40% by 2030 material target is backed by dedicated capital allocation.
Global Partnerships and Advocacy
Apollo Tyres is a member of GPSNR, maintains an active partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India for biodiversity programmes, and is pursuing SBTi validation for absolute near-term GHG targets.
- Apollo’s partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India for Kerala mangrove conservation is the most operationally specific tyre manufacturer-NGO biodiversity partnership in the Indian market, producing measurable ecological restoration outcomes that are auditable at the site level.
- Apollo’s GPSNR membership and Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy version 3.0 embed the company in the primary global NR governance framework, aligning its supply chain standards with both EUDR and OECD Due Diligence Guidance requirements as it manages NR sourcing across Southeast Asia.
- Apollo’s dual-jurisdiction ESG strategy, managing BRSR compliance for Indian listed operations and CSRD preparation for European Vredestein operations simultaneously, creates one of the most complex multi-regulatory sustainability governance architectures among Asian tyre manufacturers, with direct competitiveness implications for European OEM supply contracts from 2026 onward.
Source
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/sustainability-and-ethics/health-safety-and-environment/climate-change/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/content/dam/orbit/apollo-corporate/sustainability-and-ethics/policy/policy/sustainable-natural-rubber-policy
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/ecovadis-gold-rating/
https://www.tiretechnologyinternational.com/news/certification/apollo-tyres-earns-iscc-sustainability-certification-for-hungary-plant/
https://www.yushengmax.com/apollo-tyres-develops-concept-tyre-with-75-sustainable-materials.html
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/sustainability-roadmap/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/content/dam/orbit/apollo-corporate/investors/announcements/2025-26/Submission-of-BRS-Report
https://tracenable.com/company/apollo-tyres/ghg-emissions
Progress vs. Target Tracker
Source
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/content/dam/orbit/apollo-corporate/investors/announcements/2025-26/Submission-of-BRS-Report
https://tracenable.com/company/apollo-tyres/ghg-emissions
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/ecovadis-gold-rating/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/sustainability-and-ethics/health-safety-and-environment/climate-change/
Key Sustainability Innovations and Technologies
- 75% sustainable material concept agricultural tyre: Apollo’s 2023 concept agricultural tyre at 75% sustainable content is the highest sustainable material content concept tyre produced by any Indian tyre manufacturer, combining recycled rubber, rCB from ELT pyrolysis, bio-based oil, recycled nylon, and higher-recycled-content bead wire across nine distinct compounding ingredient categories. Base polymers are sourced from GPSNR-certified bio-circular feedstock, confirming that the supply chain traceability infrastructure for mass balance certification is already in place for the two highest-volume polymer inputs.
- Andhra Pradesh fully biomass-powered plant: Apollo’s Andhra Pradesh production facility runs entirely on biomass energy, the only confirmed fully biomass-powered large-scale tyre manufacturing plant in South Asia and the most radical single-plant renewable energy deployment in the Indian tyre sector. This operational model directly eliminates Scope 2 electricity-related GHG emissions at that facility, demonstrating that coal-free tyre manufacturing is commercially viable at production scale in India, where grid electricity remains predominantly coal-sourced.
- Hungary ISCC PLUS certification for Vredestein European operations (July 2025): The ISCC PLUS certification for Apollo’s Hungarian Vredestein plant enables rigorous mass-balance chain-of-custody documentation for sustainable material inputs from raw material sourcing to finished tyre delivery. It directly supports ESPR compliance readiness and provides OEM customers and fleet operators sourcing Vredestein-branded tyres in the EU with independently audited sustainable material credentials on commercially produced products.
- Dual CDP A- rating for Climate Change and Water Security (December 2025): Apollo is the only Indian tyre manufacturer confirmed with combined CDP A- ratings for both Climate Change and Water Security in the same assessment cycle. The dual rating reflects that Apollo’s water governance framework, water efficiency programmes, and climate data infrastructure are assessed at the same level of completeness and credibility across both environmental risk domains, creating a single-manufacturer verified position that no other company in this five-manufacturer series holds.
- EcoVadis five-year trajectory from 41st to 95th percentile: Apollo’s progression from a 41/100 EcoVadis score in FY2020 to 76/100 in FY2025 is the largest confirmed absolute EcoVadis score improvement in a single five-year period among all manufacturers in this series. The Environment category score reached the maximum possible level, with Labour and Human Rights at 80/100 and Sustainable Procurement at 71/100, demonstrating a governance improvement programme that is broad-based rather than concentrated in a single scoring pillar.
Source
https://www.yushengmax.com/apollo-tyres-develops-concept-tyre-with-75-sustainable-materials.html
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/sustainability-roadmap/
https://www.tiretechnologyinternational.com/news/certification/apollo-tyres-earns-iscc-sustainability-certification-for-hungary-plant/
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/ecovadis-gold-rating/
Measurable Impacts
Apollo’s most independently verified and externally confirmed sustainability impacts across FY2024 and FY2025 are in water efficiency, renewable energy share, EcoVadis governance, and CDP disclosure quality. The 28% water intensity reduction versus FY2019, exceeding the 25% FY2026 target, and the 33.3% renewable energy share in total power, exceeding the 30% FY2026 target one year early, are the two most quantitatively clear overachievements in Apollo’s sustainability programme as of March 2026.
- Combined Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions fell 5.5% intensity in FY2024 versus FY2023, contributing toward the FY2026 intensity reduction targets against a FY2020 baseline.
- Renewable energy share of total power reached 33.3% in FY2025, surpassing the 30% FY2026 target with one fiscal year to spare, driven by the Andhra Pradesh biomass plant, Chennai solar, and Vadodara solar and wind captive capacity.
- Recordable work-related injury rate fell 32.8% from 0.58 in FY2023 to 0.39 per 200,000 hours worked in FY2024, with ISO 45001 certification maintained for the eleventh consecutive year.
- EcoVadis Environment score reached the maximum possible level in FY2025, the highest single-category score achievable and confirmed as such in the Gold Medal assessment, placing Apollo at the absolute ceiling of EcoVadis environmental performance recognition.
- Apollo’s FY2025 Scope 3 emissions of 197,372.8 tCO2e remained stable versus FY2024, confirming that value chain carbon intensity is not increasing despite revenue growth, though full 15-category Scope 3 disclosure is not yet confirmed.
Source
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/content/dam/orbit/apollo-corporate/investors/announcements/2025-26/Submission-of-BRS-Report
https://tracenable.com/company/apollo-tyres/ghg-emissions
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-gold-medal-in-2025-ecovadis-sustainability-rating/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/content/dam/orbit/apollo-corporate/sustainability-and-ethics/reports-new/2025/Sustainability
Challenges and Areas for Improvement
The 40% sustainable raw material target by 2030 is Apollo’s most quantitatively exposed gap. Recycled raw material content in production was 4.8% in FY2024, against a 10% recycled component of the 40% target by 2030. Apollo has not separately confirmed its bio-based raw material share in FY2024 or FY2025, so the combined renewable and recycled material share in current production is not independently verifiable from sources reviewed. The gap between 4.8% confirmed recycled content and the 40% 2030 target requires annual sustainable material deployment acceleration that has not yet produced a confirmed commercial tyre product at meaningful content levels, comparable to Hankook’s 77% iON GT, Nexen’s 52% demonstration tyre, or Bridgestone’s 70% M870.
Scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions increased 8.01% in FY2025 versus FY2024, with Scope 1 alone rising 14.28% year-on-year. Apollo’s FY2026 targets are intensity-based rather than absolute, meaning that revenue and production volume growth can mask efficiency progress. SBTi targets, applied for in FY2024 but not yet validated and confirmed as of December 2025, are expected to require absolute reductions rather than intensity improvements, creating a target conversion challenge that Apollo has acknowledged in its CDP A- announcement. The pending absolute near-term SBTi target announcement remains the single most important governance action in Apollo’s sustainability calendar for 2026.
Full 15-category Scope 3 disclosure is not yet confirmed for Apollo in sources reviewed, creating a disclosure gap relative to Continental (confirmed 15-category), Nexen (confirmed 15-category from FY2024/25), and Hankook (CDP full disclosure). With the majority of Apollo’s revenue derived from India and Southeast Asia, supply chain Scope 3 emissions from NR sourcing, synthetic rubber production, and upstream chemical inputs are material and require full disclosure for SBTi Scope 3 target validation to proceed.
Source
https://tracenable.com/company/apollo-tyres/ghg-emissions
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/sustainability-and-ethics/health-safety-and-environment/climate-change/
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/sustainability-roadmap/
Future Plans and Long-Term Goals
Apollo’s 2030 and 2050 commitments converge on three vectors: 40% sustainable raw material in all tyres by 2030 (30% bio-based, 10% recycled), carbon neutrality across the full value chain by 2050, and absolute near-term SBTi targets to be announced in 2026 as the science-based near-term milestone framework. The 2030 material target is the most commercially defining commitment, as it will require Apollo to scale its current 4.8% recycled content to 10% recycled and introduce a 30% bio-based portfolio across its entire tyre production mix in India, the Netherlands, and Hungary within five fiscal years.
The Vredestein European operations are strategically critical to the 2030 trajectory. ESPR-driven mandatory sustainable content requirements for tyres sold in Europe will apply directly to the Enschede and Hungary production output, and the July 2025 ISCC PLUS certification at the Hungary plant establishes the documentation infrastructure required for ESPR compliance. Apollo’s position as an Indian manufacturer with European production, European OE relationships, and a Vredestein premium brand identity gives it both the regulatory incentive and the commercial opportunity to develop the highest sustainable content tyre portfolio in the Indian-origin manufacturer category by 2030.
Source
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/sustainability-roadmap/
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://www.tiretechnologyinternational.com/news/certification/apollo-tyres-earns-iscc-sustainability-certification-for-hungary-plant/
Comparisons to Industry Competitors
Competitor reports:
https://www.nexentire.com/me/company/esg_report/
https://www.hankooktire.com/global/en/esg/esg-report.html
https://www.bridgestone.com/responsibilities/esgdata/
https://annualreport.continental.com/2024/en/report/sustainability-report.php
What to Watch: 12 to 18 Month Indicators
Three specific signals through mid-2027 will determine whether Apollo Tyres converts its governance credibility, confirmed by CDP A- and EcoVadis Gold, into operational and product sustainability leadership that matches the pace of its Asian and European competitors:
- SBTi absolute near-term target announcement and validation: Apollo applied to SBTi in FY2024 and described the announcement of absolute near-term emission targets as “imminent” in its December 2025 CDP A- communication. The FY2026 Sustainability Report, due July 2026, will either confirm validated SBTi absolute targets or reveal a further delay. Confirmation of validated absolute targets, by contrast to the current intensity-based FY2026 milestones, would represent the single most significant governance upgrade in Apollo’s sustainability framework and would bring it into full comparability with the SBTi-validated targets of Hankook (46.2% by 2030), Nexen (58.8% by 2034), and Bridgestone (28% by 2030). Any delay beyond the FY2026 Sustainability Report publication would put Apollo’s CDP A- rating and EcoVadis Environment ceiling score at risk in the next assessment cycle.
- Commercial tyre launch with independently certified sustainable material content above 20%: Apollo’s 4.8% recycled raw material share in FY2024 production and the 75% concept agricultural tyre from 2023 create a gap between proven technical capability and commercial deployment that no competitor in this series maintains at equivalent scale. A commercially available Vredestein-branded passenger car or EV tyre with ISCC PLUS-certified sustainable material content above 20% would confirm that Apollo’s material technology development programme is transitioning from concept to commercial product in its highest-value European market. Given the July 2025 Hungary ISCC PLUS certification, the supply chain documentation infrastructure is in place. The missing variable is a certified commercial product.
- Gender diversity target delivery at FY2026 close: Apollo’s commitment to achieve 12% global gender diversity by FY2026 is the only formal D&I commitment with a numerical target and a binding date in its sustainability roadmap. The FY2026 Sustainability Report, covering the period to March 2026 and due July 2026, will confirm whether the target was met. This is the one commitment in Apollo’s portfolio that is measurable, time-bound, and cannot be presented as directionally positive if the 12% figure is not confirmed. Delivery would strengthen EcoVadis Labour and Human Rights score retention at the 80/100 level. Failure would reduce Apollo’s governance credibility on social sustainability precisely when the EcoVadis Environment score has reached its maximum, creating an asymmetric risk to overall rating maintenance.
Source
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/sustainability-roadmap/
https://tracenable.com/company/apollo-tyres/ghg-emissions
https://www.tiretechnologyinternational.com/news/certification/apollo-tyres-earns-iscc-sustainability-certification-for-hungary-plant/
Apollo Tyres presents the most unusual sustainability profile in this five-manufacturer series: the strongest confirmed governance metrics among emerging-market origin manufacturers, the most compelling operational renewable energy deployment (Andhra Pradesh fully biomass-powered), the highest water efficiency overperformance against target, and simultaneously the lowest confirmed sustainable commercial tyre content in current production at 4.8% recycled raw materials. That juxtaposition is distinctive: Apollo’s governance instruments are functioning at the highest level, but the commercial product transition is at the earliest stage relative to its ambition and relative to all four comparison manufacturers.
The most decisive positive signal in Apollo’s FY2025 data is the five-year EcoVadis journey from the 41st to the 95th percentile and the simultaneous achievement of CDP A- for both Climate Change and Water Security. These two independent assessments, by two different evaluation methodologies, arriving in the same year, confirm that Apollo’s governance infrastructure is genuinely best-in-class, not tactically optimised for one framework. The Environment category reaching maximum EcoVadis score is the clearest evidence of operational environmental management maturity.
Three strategic takeaways for practitioners benchmarking or replicating Apollo’s approach:
- Use the Andhra Pradesh fully biomass-powered plant as the commercial reference for coal-free tyre manufacturing in emerging markets: No other tyre manufacturer in this series has confirmed a fully renewable-energy-powered large-scale production facility in India or Southeast Asia. Apollo’s Andhra Pradesh plant demonstrates that biomass energy can economically replace coal-sourced grid electricity at commercial tyre manufacturing scale in a market where renewable grid coverage is incomplete. Sustainability procurement teams and OEM Scope 3 supplier assessment programmes should treat this plant’s carbon footprint as the reference benchmark for what best-in-class manufacturing energy transition looks like in the Indian tyre industry.
- Treat Apollo’s combined CDP A- Climate Change and Water Security rating as the only dual-domain leadership signal among the five manufacturers in this series: No other manufacturer in Continental, Bridgestone, Hankook, or Nexen has confirmed combined A-level CDP ratings for both climate and water in the same assessment cycle. For procurement ESG risk managers assessing tyre supplier climate and water risk exposure simultaneously, Apollo’s dual CDP position is the only manufacturer-level signal in this series that independently validates both risk domains at A-level simultaneously.
- Monitor Apollo’s SBTi absolute target announcement as the trigger for reclassifying Apollo from governance leader to operational transformation leader: Apollo’s current GHG targets are intensity-based, its recycled content in production is 4.8%, and its SBTi absolute targets have not been validated. When validated SBTi absolute targets are published, they will impose a time-bound, science-aligned absolute reduction obligation that cannot be met through intensity efficiency alone, and will require Apollo to accelerate renewable energy procurement, electrify Scope 1 process heat, and commit to a defined circular material ramp-up schedule. The announcement will be the inflection point that converts Apollo’s governance credibility into operational accountability, and it will determine whether Apollo’s 2030 sustainability position matches the ambition level of its governance infrastructure.
Source
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-a-rating-for-climate-change-and-water-from-cdp/
https://tyre-trends.com/news/apollo-tyres-secures-gold-medal-in-2025-ecovadis-sustainability-rating/
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/press-and-media/news/corporate/sustainability-roadmap/
https://tracenable.com/company/apollo-tyres/ghg-emissions
https://corporate.apollotyres.com/sustainability-and-ethics/health-safety-and-environment/climate-change/
