Cooper Texarkana Plant Wins Environmental Award

Cooper Tire & Rubber’s Texarkana facility in the US state of Arkansas has received this year’s ‘Diamond Award for Excellence in Environmental Leadership’ from the Arkansas Environmental Federation. The award, states the tyre maker, recognises companies that demonstrate initiative or leadership in managing their environmental affairs.

“Earning this award visibly demonstrates the strong commitment Cooper, and in particular, our Texarkana facility, has to maintaining the highest environmental standards,” said Cooper North American Tire Manufacturing vice president John Bodart. “Our Texarkana plant has long been known for its environmentally friendly initiatives, and it’s gratifying to win outside recognition of those efforts.”

The facility’s green initiatives include a reduction of landfill disposal by 35 per cent during the last two years and a saving of more than US$225,000 in disposal costs and marketing of recyclables. Facility engineers undertook various waste minimisation projects, including the reuse of carbon black dust and recycling of used hydraulic fluid. In addition, they reduced water usage by more than 16 per cent during the last two years. Other activities improved scrap generation by 20 per cent, and overall plant energy savings in the last two years alone amounted to more than $1.6 million.

In addition, the Texarkana plant earned International Organization for Standardization 14001 environmental management system certification in May. The ISO 14001 standard specifies requirements for a facility’s environmental management system, helping to minimise its impact on the environment through standardised processes and continually auditing performance.

This year’s award is the second that Cooper’s Texarkana facility has received from the Arkansas Environmental Federation. In 1994, the Texarkana plant was one of four Arkansas facilities to receive overall honours for waste minimisation and pollution prevention.

On a related note, earlier this year, the US Department of Energy named Cooper Tire & Rubber the first and only tyre manufacturer to earn an Energy Star Partner designation.