During the Keep America Beautiful's (KAB) Great American Cleanup 2003 event, company-owned Firestone Tire & Service Centers across the country helped collect almost a million scrap tires.
More than 918,000 tires were collected for recycling, a 143% -- or more than double -- increase from 2002's efforts, which yielded 377,000 tires collected. It was the highest increase of all recycling efforts during the 2003 campaign.
This also represents one of the largest private collections in a single volunteer campaign, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), which served as an educational partner with Keep America Beautiful.
The dealers participated in locally organized clean-up, beautification and community improvement programs. They also served as drop-off locations for scrap tires and worked with their respective cities' local KAB affiliates to remove scrap tires from area parks and waterways.
More than three-fourths of the collected and recycled tires have received a new life. They have been or will be used as playgrounds and tire swings as well as in erosion control for gardens and for interstate crash barriers, among other productive uses.
"The men and women of Firestone's company-owned stores remain committed to strengthening our communities and protecting our environment, and we are proud of all of our associates' efforts this year that helped collect a record-number of stray tires -- almost one million," said John Sheerin, retail environmental manager, BFS Retail & Commercial Operations LLC, which owns and operates Firestone Tire & Service Centers. "Keep America Beautiful has been the nation's leading community improvement and beautification organization for a half century and we are proud to be a part of this effort."
