The Bridgestone / Firestone Agricultural Tire facility is located in Des Moines, Iowa. For more than 60 years Firestone has continued to make durable and dependable farm, construction and forestry tires.
The tire manufacturing plant and a 500,000 sq. ft on-site warehouse occupy 56.5 acres of the 120 acres of property on the north side of the City of Des Moines, near the I-35/80 2nd Avenue exit. The facility is surrounded by light commercial and residential neighborhoods. Over 2,000,000 units are produced annually.
Facility-wide energy use is measured on the facility-wide electrical power consumption, natural gas consumption in the powerhouse, and boiler fuel-oil usage by measuring levels in storage tanks and fuel oil receipts. Natural gas and fuel oil usage for the facility is collected daily by powerhouse teammates from meters and measurement. Electrical power usage and demand is collected electronically by the electrical utility provider and is calculated for the monthly utility bills. The normalizing factor used for the facility’s non-transportation energy use is a combination of the manufacturing production volume, (measured as the sum of the weight of the adjusted rubber manufactured for use on-site plus the weight of rubber manufactured for shipping out to other Bridgestone-Firestone facilities) and the heating degree day for Des Moines, Iowa. Both production volume and heating degree days significantly impact the energy usage for the facility, and is consistent with the normalizing factors used for previous non-transportation energy goals.
Sum of Adjusted Rubber Manufactured Weight plus Ship- out Rubber Manufactured Weight plus Heating Degree Days - 3 factors that impact energy usage.
Facility-wide water consumption is measured by the utility provider (City of Des Moines) meter on the ncoming water line. The facility has on-site water supply wells, but they were not used in 2007, or the baseline year 2006. Well water was not used in 2006 which is the baseline year quantity. It is not anticipated that well water will be used in the future. However, the significant flooding in Des Moines, Iowa in June 2008 did cause some concern regarding the effectiveness of the higher levees that were constructed around the City of Des Moines water works after the 1993 floods. In 1993 the City of Des Moines water works were flooded and the water supply was shut off for 10 days. Since that time many improvements and safeguards have been put in place by the City of Des Moines.
Sum of Adjusted Rubber Manufactured Weight plus Ship-out Rubber Manufactured Weight - 2 factors indicating the volume of prod. that consumes water.
Uncured rubber compound and un-cured (green) tires are weighed and tracked separately from other landfilled solid waste materials. Uncured rubber compound and uncured (green) tires are weighed and accounted for prior to disposal at the facility. The amount of waste rubber compounds that the outlets will take is based on the amount of the waste rubber compounds produced, the grade of the waste rubber compounds, and market conditions for the finished rubber goods manufactured by the outlets. Un-cured waste rubber compound that is not sent to outlets ends up being disposed of to the landfill. A reduction in the amount of waste rubber compound generated may result in less volume available for outlets, less going to the landfill, or both. Waste uncured rubber compounds generated at the facility may be used by the outlets to produce cured rubber products such as truck mud flaps and industrial and residential door mats. Waste rubber compounds are inspected and graded to determine if they can possibly be used by outlets. Based on the grade of the waste uncured rubber compound, the outlets may pay a small amount to cover the cost of sorting and handling of the waste material. In the renewal application for Goal #3 - reducing non-hazardous waste (uncured rubber tires and waste rubber compound) hauled to the landfill - the baseline year (2006) was 493.81 tons per year (987,610 lbs), and the goal was 444.42 tons per year. The amount of uncured waste rubber compound sent to outlets in 2006 was 389.86 tons (779,721 lbs). The sum of both of these waste management methods is 883.67 tons per year. For the 2007 year, the actual (not normalized) amount of waste rubber compound and uncured rubber tire materials sent to the landfill was 296.51 tons (593,021 lbs), and the amount sent to outlets was 306.94 tons (613,872 lbs), for a total of 603.45 tons.
Sum of Adjusted Rubber Manufactured Weight plus Ship out Rubber Manufactured Weight - 2 factors that indicate volume of prod. impacting waste rubber.
Facility-wide fuel oil usage is measured by daily monitoring of the fuel oil storage tank levels by teammates and any recording incoming receipts. SOx air emissions are calculated using emission factors and percent sulfur content of the fuel oil combusted. Natural gas and fuel oil usage for the facility is collected daily by powerhouse teammates from meters and measurement. Emission factors used to calculate the tons of Sulfur oxide (SOX) emissions when burining fuel oil come from the AP-42 Emission Factors, External Combustion Sources, Table 1.3-1, Criteria Pollutant Emission Factors for Fuel Oil Combustion, Boilers > 100 Million Btus/Hr.
Sum of Adjusted Rubber Manufactured Weight plus Ship out Rubber Manufactured Weight plus Heating Degree Days. 3 factors impacting energy consumptio
The facility is active in community, charitable and voluntary events with citizens, neighboring businesses and groups, and business and trade associations. Facility personnel also regularly interact with local emergency response personnel. The facility has and will continue to respond proactively to citizen and neighbor’s questions, telephone calls, requests for information, and public comments to permits.
No concerns noted in 2007.
Firestone Agricultural Tire communicates information regarding its facility, including environmental issues in several ways. In 2007 some of the public outreach activities included: 1) Over 30 Firestone teammates and local Boy Scout Troops teamed up for Keep America Beautiful – Great American Clean-up / Earth Day to spring clean-up, and fix-up the nearby Easter Seals Camp Sunnyside facility and grounds. 2) Over 50 Firestone Agricultural Tire teammates participated in the 2007 Rebuilding Together repair, painting and installing new windows and doors on a residence in the Des Moines community. 3) Firestone Agricultural Tire includes the Performance Track logo in the facility’s letterhead on correspondence to local and state regulatory agencies, community agencies, suppliers and vendors to increase the awareness of the Performance Track program. Firestone teammates participating in the 2007 public outreach projects such as 1) Keep America Beautiful –Great American Cleanup/ Earth Day and 2) Rebuilding Together take the opportunity to interact with the other participants – Boy Scouts and Boy Scout leaders, and neighbors about the benefits of taking care of the environment, enjoying the natural surrounding of the Camp, and when possible, improving energy efficiency with home improvements. Adding the National Environmental Performance Track logo to outgoing letters and correspondence 3) furthers awareness of the program itself to the local agencies and vendors that may not know about the program. More detailed information about the Performance Track program is included in all facility new hire orientation presentations. Information regarding the company’s Performance Track membership and activities can be found on the website: http://www.bridgestone-firestone.com. The environmental commitment tab is at the bottom of the page. Information about the Des Moines Firestone Agricultural Tire activities and Performance Track membership can be found on the website: http://www.firestoneag.com/firestoneplant.asp