At Yokohama, being "green" is more than a business slogan - it is a corporate mandate within our global Grand Design 100 Plan, which is the charter written to coincide with Yokohama's 100th anniversary. In it, we commit to asserting our world-class technologies to protect the environment and keep earth forever blue. From manufacturing processes to product design and product performance, Yokohama is providing environmentally-products by reducing, re-using and recycling as many materials as possible.

Our commitment to protect the environment starts with our manufacturing environment. All of our plants in Japan, in the U.S. (Salem, VA) and worldwide, are ISO 14001, which is an international specification of environmental management system that holds organizations to stringent environmental principles and audits. In fact, the Salem plant was recognized in December 2010 as an Extraordinary Environmental Enterprise (E4) in the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program (VEEP). Among the 450 participants in VEEP, only about thirty have qualified as E4 members - the highest tier.

From a manufacturing standpoint, we aim to improve in the following five areas:

• Reduction of greenhouse gases emissions
• Efficient use of resources
• Reduction of waste
• Appropriate management of substances of concern (SOCs)
• Appropriate management of PCBs

For each of the above-mentioned items, here are the results from 2009 and 2010.

• Yokohama has achieved an 8 percent reduction in CO2 emissions, exceeding targets set by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
• Reduced the usage of electricity in production by 21.1% and 12%, respectively, compared to the baseline year (1990).
• Continued the result of operating zero-emission plants in Japan. Achieved 100% recycling rates in eight Japanese plants.
• Achieved 36% reduction of waste versus 1996 levels.
• Installed and continued strict management protocols.

Additionally, Yokohama has piloted the usage of solar power recently. Yokohama recently installed a photovoltaic power generation system - solar power - at the Research and Development Integrated Center (RADIC) at its Hiratsuka Factory with diverse product lines. One hundred twenty 87-watt panels in a space of approximately 90 square meters will supply about 8,000 kWh of electricity annually, cutting CO2 emissions by about three tons per year. The new system is to be operational from Thursday, December 23. The Hiratsuka Factory has employed photovoltaic and wind-powered generation since 2009, though on a smaller scale.

Materials are a critical factor that affects tire performance and our Advanced Materials Research Group is on a never-ending search for types that not only minimize the impact of our products to the environment but which lead to greater performance as well. One of these materials is orange oil.

The impetus in using orange oil came from a project with a special mission to increase the proportion of non-petroleum raw materials to 80% or more. Although natural rubber is highly durable, it is also outperformed by synthetic rubber when it comes to grip. Mixing in petroleum-based oils is usually done to compensate, but they could not be used in this case because they increase the proportion of petroleum material. That is how our engineers arrived at orange oil. It is renewable, derived from orange peel that is otherwise discarded, and its characteristics, when mixed in with natural rubber, produces outstanding grip while delivering fuel efficiency via low rolling resistance.

Yokohama's orange oil technology has also been a key driving force in major recognitions the company has received recently including the prestigious 2011 Environmental Award from Tire Expo in Cologne, Germany and the invitation of the Boston Museum of Science to be an exhibit display in its main technology wing.

BluEarth is a global concept which YOKOHAMA is communicating throughout the world. At its centre is the BluEarth Series, which will be rolled out globally with the concept itself as the product name. The same fuel efficient technology is fed back to tyres of all categories. Products developed under this unified concept will display the BluEarth Concept logo all over the world.

The Blue Earth at heart

The earth is blue, and we want to keep our earth as blue as possible into the future. This can be achieved by our environmental actions, one stage at a time.

YOKOHAMA is pleased to introduce BluEarth as its latest global concept tyre, designed to deliver environmental, human and socially friendly solutions for you and your car.

What is BluEarth?

The product engineering philosophy for Environmental, Human and Socially Friendly tyres.
Tyres should deliver driving pleasure as well as less environmental impact.
YOKOHAMA has launched the BluEarth brand in order to pursue environmental, human and socially friendly performances from its tyres.