TRENTON S.C.―Bridgestone Americas Inc.’s Aiken County Off-Road Tire Plant received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Aiken ORR, a 1.5 million-sq.-ft. facility in Trenton manufactures tires for heavy haul trucks in mining and aggregates applications, achieved LEED certification for implementing sustainable solutions and reaching high energy and environmental performance.
Some of those achievements, Bridgestone said, included initial site location selection, preferential use of local and more sustainable materials, finding beneficial reuse opportunities for 92 percent of the construction debris and 100 percent of the manufacturing discarded materials, and using Firestone Building Products pond liner to create a rainwater harvesting system that captures and uses roof runoff water.
“Aiken ORR’s LEED certification is further recognition of our innate culture to pursue fully sustainable operations and help ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations,” Jim DeMouy, vice president of environment, health, safety and sustainability for Bridgestone Americas said in a news release. “This plant’s commitment to environmentally sustainable practices epitomizes our entire company’s global corporate social responsibility commitment, Our Way to Serve.”
The Aiken County plant, which employs 450 people, conducts neighborhood roadside cleanups, manages its site to restore the Longleaf Pine Savannah Habitat and provides onsite STEM education for school children through Bridgestone Environmental Education Program.
The facility was Bridgestone’s first giant off-road radial tire manufacturing plant in North America, and began production of large and ultra-large mining and heavy equipment radial tires in 2014.
Bridgestone has eight LEED-certified locations, including both South Carolina plants and another of its manufacturing plants in Warren County, Tenn. The Warren County facility, which began operations in 1990, earned the first LEED certification for a tire plant in 2008.