NASCAR, Liberty Tire launching green initiatives

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 10, 2013) — Leading up to Earth Day and Arbor Day, NASCAR is partnering with Liberty Tire Recycling L.L.C. to launch two initiatives focused on environmental sustainability, NASCAR Race to Green and the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program.

NASCAR Race to Green will galvanize teams, tracks, drivers, official NASCAR partners — including Goodyear — and motorsports fans around the theme of protecting and preserving the environment, NASCAR said. The program will highlight accomplishments, events and activities talking place in motorsports in the key areas of waste, emissions and power.

Liberty Tire Recycling has been named the official tire recycler of NASCAR Green. NASCAR claims to have the largest recycling program in sports, "including a comprehensive effort that accounts for approximately 120,000 Goodyear tires recycled across NASCAR's top three national series each year. Liberty Tire Recycling will join other Official NASCAR Green partners, which comprise a comprehensive recycling program, including Coca-Cola, MillerCoors, Creative Recycling, Goodyear, Safety-Kleen, and Sprint," NASCAR said.

Race to Green includes a call-to-action for fans and the industry to pledge trees, which will be planted across the country and in areas recently devastated by natural disasters. Those interested in participating can visit NASCAR's website to donate trees—$1 per tree for a 2- to 3-foot sapling—to be planted in those areas.

The NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program will involve the planting of trees to absorb carbon emissions equivalent to all those produced by racing in NASCAR's three national series during an entire season, NASCAR said.

One mature tree, over the course of its lifetime, absorbs about one metric ton of carbon dioxide, according to NASCAR, which is the same amount emitted by a NASCAR Sprint Cup car over the course of 500 miles.

As presenting sponsor of the program, United Parcel Service of America Inc. (UPS) has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to commit to plant more than 8,000 trees, including 90 in each market where the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races take place. In addition, UPS will serve as presenting sponsor for the NASCAR Green Summit later this fall.

"Our NASCAR Green activities this month comprise our most ambitious and collective effort to date in reducing our sport's impact on the environment," said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO. "With the help of our industry, some best-in-class partners and, most importantly, our fans, NASCAR has become the leader in sustainability across all sports and has had a substantive impact in creating awareness and positively changing consumer behaviors around green."

The following activities will take place during April:

• On April 5 at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Va., NASCAR and UPS will host an event kicking off the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program.

• Kansas Speedway will feature the NASCAR Green logo on the infield grass, while the backstretch wall and start/finish line will be painted green.

• Pocono Raceway, in partnership with NASCAR, will donate 8,000 tree seedlings under the supervision and monitoring of the National Parks Service. The donation is part of a major reforestation effort that will result in 150,000 new trees at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pa., dedicated to the 40 passengers and crew of United Flight 93 and all who died on Sept. 11, 2001. The UPS Foundation also will donate 35,000 trees to the site.

• Many NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams and drivers will display the NASCAR Green logo on the B-post of their race cars.

• During the Fox Network's broadcast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup STP 500 on April 21, a 30-second advertising spot will "bring the NASCAR Green platform to life," NASCAR said. The campaign also will include print and radio, and digital vignette encouraging fans to pledge trees will be released.

• The NASCAR Foundation, in partnership with the Student Conservation Association (SCA), will host a park renovation project in the Kansas City area on Earth Day highlighting the first of the UPS tree planting events. Participants will include SCA representatives, local high school students, UPS volunteers, Sprint employees and representatives from the NASCAR community.

Since its inception in 2008, NASCAR Green has developed into a powerful environmental awareness platform. In addition to NASCAR's recycling and tree planting programs, NASCAR said its vehicles have driven nearly 4 million miles using Sunoco Green E15, a biofuel blended with 15 percent American-made ethanol from corn grown in the U.S. NASCAR also said it has the largest renewable energy stadium projects in the world.

For its part, Akron-based Goodyear, the sole tire supplier to NASCAR, said it:

• Recycles its used NASCAR Eagle and Wrangler race tires after each race. The recycled tire material is then used in a variety of applications, such as power generation and asphalt production. More than 120,000 Goodyear race tires from NASCAR's top three national series are recycled through the program each year.

• In 2010, Goodyear began incorporating even more environmentally friendly solutions, compounds and components in the production of its Eagle and Wrangler race tires. The use of these alternative solutions—such as soybean oil—has inspired similar developments in the production of Goodyear consumer tires.

• The company's NASCAR tires are built in a "zero-waste-to-landfill" facility—meaning all materials used in the manufacturing process are either reused or recycled.