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Tire Amnesty Day to Benefit School Playgrounds

13 November 1999

Sears Auto Center Joins Department of Public Works to Bring City's First Tire Amnesty Day Full Circle

    Collected Scrap Tires Will be Used to Resurface Three Torrance School
                     Playgrounds on America Recycles Day

    LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13 / -- The County of Los Angeles will hold its first Tire 
Amnesty Day co-sponsored by Sears and the Los Angeles County Department of Public 
Works today at the Del Amo Fashion Center Mall.  The event is an opportunity for 
community members to dispose of old, worn tires by simply turning them in at 
the mall between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

    Sears Auto Center will then donate recycled rubber material to resurface
three school playgrounds within Torrance next week.

    Sears sponsorship of today's event and the playground resurfacing is part
of its nationwide R.O.T.A.T.E. (Recycling Old Tires Aids the Environment)
initiative, which allows Sears to give back to local communities by supporting
tire collection and recycling efforts.  R.O.T.A.T.E. also helps to raise
awareness of the wide variety of uses for recycled tires and encourage tire
recycling.

    More than 30 Sears associates will assist with tire collection from local
residents and community groups.

    "Without Sears support, Torrance's first Tire Amnesty Day could not have
been possible," said Shari Afshari, manager of the County's recycling
programs.  "We also thank the many volunteers who helped make this event
successful in ridding our community of scrap tires."

    The collected tires will be transported to American Tire Disposal, a local
recycling facility, to be cleaned and processed into a variety of recycled
rubber products including material for basketball and tennis courts, mats for
the disabled and roofing compounds as well as the playground surface material
for Arnold Elementary School, 4100 227th St., Edison Elementary School,
3800 182nd St., and Wood Elementary School, 2250 235th St., all in Torrance.

    "Every time Sears Auto Center sells a new tire, it means an old tire must
be discarded," said Bob Bewernick, Los Angeles district manager for Sears.
"We want to ensure that the old tires we replace are properly disposed of and,
whenever possible, become a useful commodity.  Sears and the County are
committed to working with Los Angeles' neighborhoods to help keep our
communities free of discarded tires and to educate residents about scrap tire
recycling."

    "This year's county-wide Tire Amnesty Day is unique in that through the
Sears and the County of Los Angeles' initiative, community members will be
rewarded with both cleaner neighborhoods and improved school playgrounds,"
said Dr. Arnold Plank, superintendent Torrance Unified School Districts.  "We
think this effort will truly demonstrate for our students the value of
recycling products such as tires and the importance of protecting the
environment."

    The Scrap Tire Management Council estimates the United States generates
about 270 million scrap tires annually and has about 850 million scrap tires
in stockpile, creating an environmental and safety hazard.

    Over the last two years, Sears R.O.T.A.T.E. has brought successful tire
collection and community enhancement projects to a number of cities across the
country, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and
Minneapolis.  To date, more than 30,000 tires have been collected.

    In addition to playgrounds, widespread applications of recycled rubber
throughout the United States include ramps for the disabled, running tracks,
horse tracks, bike paths, roofing compounds, driveway sealants, truck bed
liners, mail box posts, computer mouse pads, car parts, cow mats and hockey
targets.

        The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works provides comprehensive
information regarding environmental and waste prevention programs, including
household hazardous waste collection, used motor oil recycling, yard waste
management, business and residential recycling, waste tire management and
storm water pollution prevention.  To learn more about these programs, the
public is encouraged to call the countywide toll-free recycling hotline at
1-888-CLEAN LA or visit the Web site at http://www.888cleanla.com