Ford announced plans to reduce the amount of waste it sends to the landfill by 40 percent per vehicle over a five-year period from 2011 to 2016. This would reduce landfill waste to an average of 13.4 pounds per vehicle worldwide, the company said.
The new waste-reduction strategy applies to all elements of the company, from the vehicles it produces to the facilities where they are built. If successful, Ford will add to a previous 40 percent reduction between 2007 and 2011, which it accomplished through new initiatives and programs, such as paint waste recycling at facilities in Australia, Thailand, India and Spain.
The company plans to continue reducing its amount of waste to landfill by emphasizing minimization, reuse and recycle of waste whenever possible. In addition, preventing certain kinds of difficult-to-recycle material from entering Ford facilities will become a priority.
Ford’s waste reduction efforts already have reaped significant financial benefits. In 2012, the company generated $225 million in revenue through the recycling of 568,000 tons of scrap metal in the U.S. and Canada alone.
Ford’s Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan succeeded in becoming a zero waste-to-landfill plant in late 2012, joining factories in Germany, Belgium, India, Taiwan and China that achieved the status in 2011.
Last fall, Ford began offering a gas-saving Auto Stop-Start option on the Ford Fusion, which is the first non-hybrid, midsize sedan to turn off the engine when sitting at stop lights or in heavy traffic.
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Bart King is the founder and principal at New Growth Communications. He specializes in helping sustainability leaders develop thought leadership content and strategy
Published Mar 1, 2013 8am EST / 5am PST / 1pm GMT / 2pm CET