Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.’s plant in Tupelo, Miss., earned the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s enHance Partnership Award for 2015.
The enHance program is a voluntary stewardship initiative that recognizes facilities for putting in place environmental initiatives beyond those that are required. Cooper’s Tupelo plant has been a member of the enHance program since 2011 and earned the 2015 enHance Partnership Award for contributing most significantly to furthering the objectives of enHance and supporting the program, the tiremaker said.
The tiremaker’s plant reduced the amount of waste going to landfills by 34% and reduced its energy levels by 5% from 2012 levels. Additionally, Cooper reduced solvent by 30% in the same period.
Sharing knowledge and experience, the Cooper Tupelo team twice presented workshops at enHance annual training conferences, and Cooper’s presentations have been incorporated into enHance Resources for Manufacturing, available on the organization’s website at enhance.ms.
“Cooper’s environmental policy commits our plant to using energy and natural resources efficiently, reducing waste, preventing pollution and acting as a good corporate citizen through the use of good environmental practices,” said Cooper Tupelo’s Environmental Coordinator John Swartzendruber. “This has been the practice at the Tupelo facility since we began operations in 1984, so it seemed a natural extension of this commitment to take up Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s challenge to demonstrate our dedication to environmental excellence by seeking membership in the enHance environmental stewardship initiative.”
Cooper Tupelo is also certified to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001, which sets out the criteria for an environmental management system and maps a framework that companies can follow to demonstrate that their environmental impact is being measured and improved.
