CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (March 30, 2015) — Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia L.L.C.'s (YTMV) Salem, Va., plant has received the 2015 Environmental Warrior Award from the Virginia Water Environment Association (VWEA).
The facility received the recognition as part of VWEA's 2015 Industrial Waste and Pretreatment Environmental Excellence Awards Program. YTMV President Tetsuro Murakami was presented the award at a ceremony held in Charlottesville, Va., on March 3.
The Environmental Warrior Award, presented for the first time this year, recognizes a company that has made the greatest improvement in their environmental compliance program, according to the VWEA.
“It is a great honor for YTMV to be the first recipient of the VWEA's new Environmental Warrior Award,” Mr. Murakami said.
“Going forward, all of us at the company will not rest on this laurel but will relentlessly endeavor to protect and improve the local environment in our business and other activities.”
Yokohama earned the Environmental Warrior Award due to its achievement in complying with industrial water treatment regulations, the tire maker said, as well as its environmental conservation efforts over the years. This includes lowering its industrial waste emissions by 45 percent from 2012 to 2014, and as of year-end 2014, it had lowered the percent of waste sent to landfills to 2.5 percent.
Also in 2014, YTMV was accepted into the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program (VEEP) with an E4 status, the highest status rating awarded by the program. The tire manufacturer said it is targeting a zero-percent landfill ratio in 2015.
