NASCAR has designated Liberty Tire Recycling as the official tire recycler of NASCAR Green, a month-long, industry wide effort to reduce the sport’s carbon footprint.
Liberty Tire Recycling, which recycles more than 140 million tires annually, reclaiming about 1.5 billion pounds of rubber for new products, joins other official NASCAR Green partners Coca-Cola, MillerCoors, Creative Recycling, Goodyear, Safety-Kleen and Sprint.
NASCAR says it has the largest recycling program in sports, including an effort that accounts for about 120,000 Goodyear tires recycled across NASCAR’s top three national series each year.
In conjunction with the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program Delivered by UPS, an initiative intended to neutralize the carbon emissions of all of the racing in NASCAR’s three national series, Liberty Tire Recycling will provide GroundSmart Mulch to improve the landscaping of trees that are donated across the US. The rubber mulch lasts longer than its wood mulch counterpart and prevents soil from washing away, the tire recycling services provider says. Additionally, Liberty Tire Recycling products such as rubberized asphalt will be used to repave racetracks and parking lots at NASCAR Home Track racetracks across the country.
In February, UPS announced environmental upgrades to the trackside pick-up and delivery options it provides to NASCAR, including the use of a new exhaust system and solar power. UPS became an official NASCAR partner in 2000 and has provided behind-the-scenes pick-up and delivery services for race teams, sponsors, racing officials, vendors and news media at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events across the country.
Last May, NASCAR and the EPA signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at raising racing fans’ awareness of environmentally friendly products and initiatives.
Under the agreement, NASCAR will use products that have earned EPA’s Design for the Environment label at racing events. The DfE label tells consumers that, according to the EPA, the product performs well, is cost effective and safer for the environment. NASCAR will also encourage its suppliers to get an “E3 tuneup,” to increase productivity while reducing energy and materials use. The EPA’s E3 (Economy, Energy and the Environment) program promotes sustainable manufacturing and US economic growth.