Bridgestone mounting multi-faceted scrap tire recycling initiative

Bridgestone is rolling out a “One Team, One Planet Spent Tire Program” designed to eventually ensure that for every new tire sold by the company in the U.S., a scrap tire will in turn be turned in for recycling.

The multi-faceted initiative features a program for its company-owned stores, a voluntary program for its extended network of affiliated retailers and a community program that provides free tire collection for neighborhood- and river-cleanup events.

“The purpose of this program is simple – to improve our environment by moving towards a waste-free tire industry where all spent tires are captured and sent to another valuable use,” says John Sheerin, environmental director for retail operations and the program’s spokesperson.

“It’s a lofty goal, but failure is not an option when it comes to ensuring the future health of our environment,” he observes. “And that’s why we’re not doing it alone. By working together with our affiliated retailers, community partners, academia, government entities and others in our industry, we can and will find even better solutions for our products at the end of their useful lives.”

The current overall nationwide tire recycling rate is about 85 percent, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA). Bridgestone’s 2,200 American retail outlets have already achieved a 98 percent ratio.

The company has committed to ensuring that by the end of this year 100 percent of the spent tires from its network of company-owned stores in the U.S. “will be sent to valuable use at end of life.”

Included are all of the Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Wheel Works and ExpertTire locations.

Starting in 2013, the company will launch a voluntary program for its Bridgestone Affiliated Retailer Nationwide Network, which will encourage its sales partners to also strive towards zero waste of spent tires at their stores.

The community cleanup support program, which begins immediately, includes a new partnership with the River Network. The Portland, Ore.-based nonprofit leads a national watershed protection movement that includes more than 2,000 local, state and regional grassroots organizations aimed at protecting rivers and watersheds.

Bridgestone’s new community support initiative will recycle for free any scrap tires collected during any River Network or other independently organized collection effort.

Event leaders can request tire recycling support by filling out the form available at www.oneteamoneplanet.com/americas.

“It is our goal to make tires found in our natural environment a thing of the past and no longer the poster child of trash,” says Sheerin. “We are all part of One Team, One Planet, and together we will make a difference – one tire at a time.”

For more information, visit www.bridgestonetire.com.