DHL Global Forwarding Japan, the freight arm of DHL Group, worked with Bridgestone to ship the company's ENLITEN® technology-equipped tires from Tokyo, Japan, to Darwin, Australia, using DHL's GoGreen Plus solution.

In an announcement, DHL said it will also transport the tires back to Japan after the event.

DHL's GoGreen Plus solution helped Bridgestone achieve a 100% carbon-neutral shipment using a combination of sustainable marine fuel (insetting) and compensation of emissions via VER Gold Standard carbon credits (offsetting).

Bridgestone will also use DHL's GoGreen Plus solution for the return leg.

"Bridgestone strives to realize their vision toward 2050 of providing social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company, and we are proud to play a part in their journey. Our GoGreen Plus solution is based on a displacement principle," said Karsten Michaelis, president/representative director of DHL Global Forwarding Japan.

"The more customers use GoGreen Plus, the more alternative fuel or clean technology is used. This makes transport chains greener step by step. We already have a few customers using this solution and are looking forward to more to come on board," he added.

DHL noted that Bridgestone has developed new tires for the 2023 BWSC featuring ENLITEN® technology — the company's new base technology for product design.

The ENLITEN technology-equipped tires supplied to the BWSC were designed to help teams meet the extreme demands during the 3,000km event, including low rolling resistance, wear and weight.

"Bridgestone is passionate about contributing to a more sustainable motorsports future at the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge through our ENLITEN tires made with 63% recycled and renewable materials. We chose to work with DHL to ensure that our supply chain initiatives also support our sustainability goals," said Naotaka Horio, Expert, Motorsport Division, Bridgestone Corporation.

The tires Bridgestone supplies will include a tire with a recycled and renewable material ratio (MCN – Material Circularity Number) of 63%, which is an improvement compared to approximately 30% in the 2019 BWSC event.

The recycled and renewable materials used to develop these tires include recycled organic fibre, recovered carbon black, recycled rubber chemical, recycled oil, and reinforcement material using recycled steel.

With the mission to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the DHL group strives for clean operations for climate protection.

GoGreen Plus is part of the Group's mid-term sustainability roadmap for 2030 and contributes to the sub-target of having at least 30% of fuel requirements covered by sustainable fuels.

To reduce CO₂ emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, the Group will spend EUR7 billion on sustainable fuel and clean technologies by 2030.