Firestone Helps Keep America Tidy

Firestone Tire & Service Centers helped to collect 1.2 million scrap tyres, fit for recycling, as part of Keep America Beautiful’s (KAB) Great American Cleanup.

“We wanted to build on last year’s success by helping Keep America Beautiful reach the 1 million tyre mark and continue increasing the recycling of used automotive batteries and engine oil,” said Larry Magee, CEO and president of BFRC. “Through the involvement of our teammates across the country, we not only met but surpassed this year’s goal. Firestone is proud to be a part of Keep America Beautiful’s efforts, and of our company’s track record in protecting the environment and helping strengthen our communities.”

BFRC’s national retail locations, which include Firestone Tire & Service Centers, TiresPlus and ExpertTire, had each of its 2,200 company-owned stores participate in the effort. Each centre served as a community drop-off location, accepting used engine oil, car batteries and scrap tyres from community cleanups for proper recycling at no charge.
It is claimed that on average, more than 80 per cent of scrap tyres in the US are beneficially used in some application, be it playgrounds, crash barriers, or as tyre derived fuel.

The Great American Cleanup runs from March to May, and is the nation’s largest organised cleanup and community improvement programme. President George W Bush served as the programme’s honorary chairman for the second consecutive year. In 2004, volunteers cleaned 2,600 illegal dump sites nationwide, picked up more than 150 million pounds of litter and debris, restored 4,000 playgrounds and recreation areas, and planted more than 131,000 trees, flowers and bulbs in three months.