Bridgestone Corporation announced that it has switched all electricity sourced from external sources to renewable energy including hydro, geothermal, solar and wind energy to power four domestic tire plants in Japan – in Hikone, Tosu, Shimonoseki and Kitakyushu.
The first plant to adopt renewable energy to power manufacturing operations was the Hikone plant on June 1, the company said. The other three plants made the change on July 1.
Bridgestone said this change of energy source is expected to reduce approximately 11 points in annual CO2 emissions produced by Bridgestone domestic tire plants, and the total reductions of CO2 emission including initiatives done by 2020 will be approximately 30% when compared to 2011. The ratio of renewable electricity at domestic tire plants will be increased to approximately 42%. Bridgestone says it will continue to reduce CO2 emissions by expanding renewable energy use, improving tire production energy efficiency and installing new solar power generation systems in all the domestic tire factories through 2030.
Bridgestone Group says it is moving ahead with its Sustainability Business Framework through the implementation of its Mid-Term Business Plan (2021 – 2023) that aims to realize its vision to provide social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company toward 2050. The Sustainability Business Framework is designed to contribute to realizing resource circulation, CO2 reduction, a circular economy and carbon neutrality throughout its businesses.
In addition, the company says its long-term environmental target is to reach a carbon-neutral state by 2050, while its milestone 2030 medium-term environmental targets include a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 when compared to 2011.
An example of the group’s sustainability initiatives is solar panels being installed at Bridgestone’s Aiken, South Carolina plant as well as other plants across the world.
