Inter City Tire understands that sustainability is about more than just recycling, and we constantly strive to integrate its broader meaning into every aspect of our business and throughout our supply chain. Making it a point of focus within our overall business philosophy has always made sense and so we've been doing it for years. This type of thinking has helped us achieve better business practices that not only lead to positive fiscal benefits, but in the reduction of our and our customer's carbon footprint as a whole.
Our commitment is demonstrated in a number of ways:
- As a retreader of truck tires, we are directly responsible for saving an extraordinary amount of oil every day. On average, each new truck tire contains 22 gallons of oil (while some have much more), with approximately 15 gallons of that oil contained in the body of the tire (we call it a tire "casing")and around 7 gallons in the tread. That means retreading a worn casing, instead of scrapping it, saves 15 gallons of oil for each retread! Multiply that by the number of tires we retread annually, and net result is that we help save over a million gallons of oil each year. What's more, every tire we retread results in one less tire in a landfill or unsightly tire pile. Easily, a retreaded tire has one of the highest post-consumer contents of any recycled product!
- Before a new tread can be bonded to a casing as part of the retread process, the remaining tread on the casing must be "buffed" off. The resulting rubber "buffings" are saved and sent to recyclers who produce a variety of products including rubber mats and playground bedding. This saves a large of amount raw material which would otherwise be consumed, and keeps waste material out of the garbage.
- As part of our foam fill flat-proofing process, we use special equipment which recycles used polyfill material by finely milling and blending it with virgin polyfill to create a homogeneous blended tire fill that performs as good as 100% virgin fill. The result is a massive reduction of raw material consumption while keeping the used polyfill material out of landfills.
- We recently upgraded the lighting in our distribution center and retread facility with T5 high efficiency lighting. In addition, many of the new fixtures are motion sensing which means the lights turn off automatically when there is no one in the area. The result has been a drastic reduction in our electricity consumption. We are in the process of upgrading all of our locations with similar technology.
- We prepare and deliver our waste paper directly to a local paper mill for recycling. Though it may seem a relatively minor task, it reduces the carbon footprint of the recycling process as a whole by eliminating the need for an intermediary who would burn fossil fuels transporting the paper to its own facility for handling before ultimately delivering it to the same paper mill.
- Scrap tires and waste motor oil are provided to state-approved processors and recycled or consumed in the most environmentally beneficial manner possible. Likewise, batteries, wheel weights and scrap metal are all provided to recyclers.
- Large trucks are significant sources of pollution that can damage the environment and pose public health issues. Everyone has a stake in limiting motor vehicle emissions. As a New Jersey State-approved heavy duty diesel emissions inspection facility, we play an integral role in the "Clean Air NJ" program by helping assure good air quality for the health and welfare of NJ resident.