Bridgestone Americas has taken the aggressive environmental goal of recycling one tire for every tire it sells in the U.S.

Launched on Earth Day this past weekend at an event in Washington, D.C., the Bridgestone One Team, One Planet Spent Tire Program was developed “to eventually assure” that “spent” tires – those entirely removed from service – “will be used for a valuable purpose.”

“The purpose of this program is simple – to improve our environment by moving toward a waste-free tire industry where all spent tires are captured and sent to another valuable use,” said John Sheerin, environmental director for Bridgestone Americas’ store unit. “It’s a lofty goal, but failure is not an option when it comes to ensuring the future health of our environment. And that’s why we’re not doing it alone. By working together with our affiliated retailers, community partners, academia, government entities and others in our industry, we can and will find even better solutions for our products at the end of their useful lives.”

Bridgestone committed that by the end of this year, 100% of spent tires from its U.S. company-owned stores – including all Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Wheel Works and Expert Tire locations – will be collected and sent to be recycled into “valuable use.”

Starting in 2013, the company will launch a voluntary program for its dealers, encouraging them “to also strive towards zero waste of spent tires at their stores.”

The overall effort also includes a community program that provides spent tire collection for neighborhood and river clean-up events. This element of the program includes a new partnership with River Network, a Portland-based non-profit that leads a national effort with more than 2,000 local, state and regional organizations working to protect rivers and watersheds.

Bridgestone’s support will recycle at no cost any spent tires collected during any River Network or other independently organized clean-up event.