DHEC’s Office of Environmental Affairs visited with two of the newest members of the South Carolina Environmental Excellence Program recently to talk with managers and staff about the Bridgestone Americas Aiken Off Road Tire Plant and the PSR Plant in Aiken. Both facilities are very involved with their communities and are doing their part towards environmental sustainability.

Aiken Off Road Tire Plant

The Aiken Off Road Tire Plant is the newest Bridgestone Americas facility in Aiken and they are harvesting rain water. Since 2015, more than 16 million gallons of rainwater has been harvested. Total water usage continues to decrease due in part to the rainwater collection as well as using low flow water fixtures, waterless urinals and closed loop cooling. This facility is also recycling 100 percent of its production waste, upgrading LED fixtures and adding occupancy sensors to help reduce energy usage.

The Aiken Off Road Tire Plant also hosts a Community Outreach Event at the Gregg Park Civic Center in Graniteville that is open to children of the Graniteville, Vaucluse, and Warrenville communities.  This event helps promote conservation ad positive community relations with citizens.

PSR Plant

The PSR Plant is using solar energy throughout its facility and many outlying areas use solar exclusively.  Natural lighting in the warehouse is used during daytime hours to conserve energy consumption and in many places interior lighting has been converted to low-energy consuming LED lights.

The PSR Plant has maintained a 100 percent recycle rate for plant wastes and no manufacturing waste is shipped to landfills. This plant is also LEED Silver-certified since 2009 by the Green Building Council. An environmental learning center is on site and located outdoors, complete with a disc golf course, a horseshoe gaming area and walking trails. This center is used by PSR plant teams as well as civic groups, church groups and schools. A bluebird habitat is maintained on site in conjunction with the South Carolina Bluebird Society. A total of 31 bluebird boxes are on site and are monitored weekly by employee volunteers. Over the past 10 years, a total of 1,377 eggs have been in the boxes with 965 young fledge hatching so far.

Congratulations to both the Aiken Off Road Tire Plant and the PSR Plant of Bridgestone Americas for your work towards environmental sustainability. Both facilities will be members of the South Carolina Environmental Excellence Program through 2021.

Learn more

For more information on becoming a member of the SCEEP, please contact Rebecca Sproles at sprolemr@dhec.sc.gov or 803-898-3139.