NASCAR and EPA Partner on Environmental Initiatives

NASCAR and the EPA have signed a memorandum of understanding intended to raise racing fans’ awareness of environmentally friendly products and initiatives.

Under the agreement, NASCAR will use products that have earned EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) label at racing events. The DfE label tells consumers that, according to the EPA, the product performs well, is cost effective and safer for the environment. By using DfE products at racing events, EPA and NASCAR want to convey to fans that choosing DfE products is an easy thing to do to protect their families and the environment.

NASCAR will also encourage its suppliers to get an “E3 tuneup,” to increase productivity while reducing energy and materials use. The EPA’s E3 (Economy, Energy and the Environment) program promotes sustainable manufacturing and US economic growth. It coordinates technical assessments by the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, the Department of Energy’s Industrial Assessment Centers and state environmental experts with support from local Workforce Investment Boards and Small Business Development Centers, among others.

The teams conduct customized, hands-on assessments of production processes on the factory floor and provide a list of recommendations intended to streamline industrial processes, increase profitability and improve overall environmental performance.

NASCAR’s past environmental initiatives include its use, since the start of the 2011 season, of Sunoco Green E15. This fuel is blended with 15 percent ethanol.

Additionally, a 3-MW ground-mount solar energy system powers NASCAR’s Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. The 25-acre solar installation consists of nearly 40,000 photovoltaic modules that are expected to produce more than 72 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy between 2010 and 2030.

NASCAR also says its tree planting program offsets 100 percent of the emissions produced by on-track racing. It also has the largest recycling program in sports, in collaboration with Coca-Cola Recycling, Coors Light, Safety-Kleen and Creative Recycling, according to the company.