Despite the challenges of 2020, we’re beginning the end of the year with a milestone moment on our sustainability journey…

We’re excited to reveal that all of our tyre manufacturing plants in Europe are now ISO 50001 certified. This is a significant milestone for us, marking Bridgestone as a pioneer in our industry when it comes to energy efficient operations.

What exactly is an ISO 50001 certificate?

Put simply, the ISO 50001 is an international standard developed for organisations committed to addressing their impact, conserving resources and improving their bottom line through efficient energy management.

The ISO 50001 provides a practical framework that helps organisations achieve their energy goals while also improving the efficiency of their operations. Another significant benefit of achieving the certification is reducing overall energy usage and costs – a win for both business and the environment.

Why it’s so important for us?

This news means we are a pioneer in our industry when it comes to certification from third parties on energy efficient management systems.

It’s a huge achievement, one that not only validates our approach to energy management across our manufacturing footprint – and the importance we place on meeting legislative and regulatory requirements – but also demonstrates our commitment to a more sustainable future and thus, to go beyond.

Importantly, if we are to maintain the ISO 50001 certification we are obliged to continue to enhance the energy efficiency of our operations. This is great motivation for individual Bridgestone plants and our business to continue to better how we use and manage energy.

We have found that ISO 50001 has helped to create and spread an energy efficiency mindset across all levels of our organisation, promoting new behaviours that value sustainability and contribute to our journey.

An ongoing journey

Improving the energy efficiency of our manufacturing processes has been an integral part of our sustainability journey. Since 2010, when we obtained our first energy efficiency certification for our R&D centre in Rome, we’ve successfully minimised CO₂ emissions and waste from our plants across Europe.

In fact, our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint at our manufacturing plants is one of the reasons why we were able to reduce our global CO₂ intensity by 34 per cent between 2005 and 2020. In Europe specifically, our plants have saved approximately 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ and €18 million thanks to improvements in energy efficiency over the last decade.

This year we were thrilled to have reached yet another important sustainability milestone moment for our business: 90 per cent of the electricity consumed in our European plants now comes from renewable resources.

But our work doesn’t stop here. As a leader in advanced solutions and sustainable mobility, we’ll continue to improve our manufacturing processes and develop innovative products and services to help make mobility more sustainable.

Footnote

¹ According to the UNI CEI EN 16001, 2009.