The Ford Motor Company has released its 18th annual Sustainability report detailing its environmental progress across the world and commitment to continued sustainability actions in the future. Coinciding with the release is a short film highlighting key milestones the company has achieved on its journey towards sustainability.
The mobility giant began publishing its Sustainability Report in 2000 as a way to measure and track its progress on key issues related to climate change, air quality and conservation and identifying opportunities that have significant impacts across the business, such as water stewardship and supplier training.
“We know climate change is real and a critical threat and we will continue to work with leaders around the world in support of ambitious global greenhouse gas reduction targets,” said Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of the Ford Motor Company. “At this time, we have the opportunity to make real environmental progress as we move into a world of smart vehicles and smart environments, including car sharing, multi-modal transportation and dynamic shuttles.”
Ford has collaborated with several other organizations throughout the years to increase the company’s transparency and depth of environmental initiatives. A recent example of this is Ford’s pledge to the Business Alliance for Water and Climate’s “Improve Water Security” initiative in June — the first automaker to do so.
Business Alliance for Water and Climate is a partnership between the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate, Carbon Disclosure Project, SUEZ and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This coalition created a program of actions for companies to demonstrate their commitment to being responsible water stewards.
The 2016 – 2017 Ford Sustainability Report, which coincides with the kick off of World Water Week, also underlines water stewardship achievements such as a reduction in water use by more than 61 percent, which contributes to the company’s ultimate goal of reducing water usage by an additional 30 percent and using zero drinkable water in manufacturing. Additionally, Ford suppliers who participate in the voluntary Partnership for a Cleaner Environment program are on track to save an estimated 550 million gallons of water over the next five years — enough to fill 837 competition-sized swimming pools, according to data collected in 2016. In 2015, Ford’s Dagenham facility reached its target of reducing water and energy consumption by 50 percent, which equates to savings of 17.5 million liters of water.
Water progress is joined by improvements on energy use, with a 25 percent reduction on global facility energy use per vehicle and a 65 percent reduction in waste sent to landfill globally — 25 percent more than the company’s original goal of 40 percent. Additionally, eighty-two of Ford’s global facilities — 49 manufacturing facilities and 33 non-manufacturing sites — are now part of the company’s zero-waste-to-landfill program.
“Every day, we work to do the right things for our customers, communities and the planet,” said Kim Pittel, Group VP of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “Through our integrated sustainability approach, we’re embedding sustainability best practices throughout our company and our supply chain to make people’s lives better.”
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Published Aug 31, 2017 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST