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Bridgestone Tire Plant Receives Award for Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing Environmental Leader Recognizes Bridgestone Wilson Tire Plant as Project of the Year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 8, 2015) – Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) today announced that the company’s passenger and light truck tire manufacturing facility in Wilson, North Carolina recently was recognized for its industry-leading achievements in sustainable manufacturing. The plant received a 2015 Project of the Year award from Environmental Leader, a leading publication that keeps business leaders informed about environmental and sustainability news. The Bridgestone Wilson tire plant, which is the first in the world to receive zero waste to landfill claim validation from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), was honored for its industry-leading innovation in developing a comprehensive program to achieve zero waste to landfill.

“Conducting operations in the most responsible and sustainable ways is vital to business today and reflects our company’s environmental mission to ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations,” said Jim Lehman, director of environmental affairs, Bridgestone Americas. “Reaching and maintaining zero waste to landfill at our Wilson tire plant — our largest passenger tire facility in the Americas — is one of our proudest accomplishments at Bridgestone, and we are honored that the esteemed panelists recognized our ongoing commitment to sustainable manufacturing with this award.”

The Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards program recognizes excellence in products and services that provide companies with energy and environmental benefits, or in corporate projects that improved environmental or energy management, while also benefiting the bottom line. The panel of award reviewers for the Environmental Leader program acknowledged the difficulty of meeting waste diversion and reduction goals in a tire manufacturing environment, particularly for a facility with a footprint as large as the Bridgestone Wilson tire plant.

In 2012, Bridgestone Corporation announced a long-term environmental vision for the year 2050. The vision sets forth aggressive targets, which include reducing CO2 emissions by 50 percent, and making products from fully renewable and sustainable resources by 2050 and beyond. To learn more or to view the company’s most recent environmental report, visit Bridgestone.com.

About Bridgestone Americas, Inc.:
Nashville, Tennessee-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM) is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BSAM and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies are also engaged in retreading operations throughout the Western Hemisphere and produce air springs, roofing materials, and industrial fibers and textiles. The BSAM family of companies also operates the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and service centers. Guided by its One Team, One Planet message, the company is dedicated to achieving a positive environmental impact in all of the communities it calls home.


About the Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards:
In its second year, the Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards recognize excellence in products and services that provide companies with energy and environmental benefits, or in corporate projects that improved environmental or energy management and increased the bottom line. It is a five-point rating system designed to offer companies feedback and recognition. Third-party judges came from the following companies: AECOM Technology Corp., Anheuser Busch InBev, Bayer MaterialScience, ConAgra Foods, ConEd Solutions, Environmental & Operational Risk Management, GlaxoSmithKline, LNS Research, Owens Corning, RegScan, Salazar Packaging, Trupoint Advisers, the University of California Berkeley, Verdantix, Williams Creek Consulting and YES Bank.