Cooper Miss. plant wins environmental award

TUPELO, Miss. (May 14, 2015) — Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.'s plant in Tupelo has earned the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality's (MDEQ) enHance Partnership Award for 2015.

The enHance program is a voluntary stewardship initiative that recognizes facilities and municipalities for putting in place environmental initiatives beyond those that are required, Findlay, Ohio-based Cooper said.

The company's Tupelo plant has been a member of the program since 2011.

“Cooper's environmental policy commits our plant to using energy and natural resources efficiently, reducing waste, preventing pollution and acting as a good corporate citizen through the use of good environmental practices,” said John Swartzendruber, Cooper Tupelo's environmental coordinator.

The Tupelo plant is certified to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001, which sets out the criteria for an environmental management system and maps a framework that companies can follow to demonstrate that their environmental impact is being measured and improved, according to Cooper.

The tire maker also claimed that it was also the first company operating in Mississippi to carry out an E3 — Economy, Energy, and Environment — assessment, with the company's Clarksdale facility serving as the pilot for the E3 program in the State of Mississippi.

E3 is a coordinated federal and local technical assistance framework that helps communities work with their manufacturing base to adapt and thrive in a new business era focused on sustainability. E3 provides manufacturers with customized, hands-on assessments of production processes to reduce energy consumption, minimize their carbon footprint, prevent pollution, increase productivity and, Cooper said, drive innovation.