American Tire Distributors – Christianah Oyenuga – 2018

Goals

American Tire Distributors (ATD) is the largest independent tire distributor in North America, serving more than 80,000 customers across the U.S. and Canada, supplying over 40 million replacement tires to the market annually. The Company serves all sales channels, from independent retailers, to large mass merchants, to online sales, delivering products manufactured by nearly all of the world’s leading tire manufacturers. ATD operates more than 140 distribution centers totaling 22 million square feet of warehouse space and a fleet of over 1400 trucks driving over 80 million delivery miles annually. The Company’s fastest growing brands are its own proprietary tire brands that are produced and sourced from Asia.

ATD had initiated efforts to reduce energy use across its operating units, but was lacking a strategy and capability to measure and report its actions and sustainability performance and progress. ATD enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Christianah Oyenuga to help formalize and adopt a long-term sustainability strategy, customize a framework for reporting its sustainability efforts, and develop recommendations for emissions reduction targets.

Solutions

Working with ATD’s sustainability team across the enterprise, Oyenuga developed a reporting outline inspired by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), that highlights the environmental, social and governance efforts which align with stakeholders’ sustainability goals. In order to embed sustainability within ATD’s business model, she created an engagement program aimed at encouraging employees to promote sustainability practices across business units which would in turn, enhance management decisions. She prepared a GHG emissions inventory report and proposed emissions reduction targets across ATD’s operational locations and its entire supply chain.

Finally, she developed a roadmap that would improve the company’s energy management programs and help remove barriers to implementation and proposed new opportunities for energy and fuel efficiency initiatives that would provide cost and emissions reductions.

Potential Impact

Once fully deployed and maintained, Oyenuga’s outline, and GHG emissions inventory will provide stakeholders and customers with a transparent reporting of their efforts toward GRI and CDP compliance. The energy efficiency initiatives and emissions reduction target will advance their strategy to reduce operational costs and align their goals with those of their customers and other critical stakeholders.