It’s not all about the cars anymore. Automakers increasingly are finding that “greening” up their manufacturing plants, sponsoring environmental efforts in the community and launching other programs once dismissed by skeptics as “greenwashing” can pay off – in bottom-line savings and in positive image.It’s so pervasive at Toyota Motor Corp.’s North American manufacturing operations that personal wastebaskets are out – everyone must sort and deposit their wastepaper, lunch leavings and other trash in group recycling and composting bins.
Nudged by government regulations, consumer concerns and a rising awareness that going green means saving greenbacks, automakers are wasting less, recycling more, and educating their employees about the importance of protecting the environment. Car companies’ environmental ministrations include growing gardens, planting trees and teaching city kids about the watershed. They’re turning battery covers into bird nests and associating themselves with designers who make clothing from renewable resources such as hemp and bamboo.
A major thrust – this one’s hardly a newly-discovered “trend” – involves sending far less material to the landfill, which is forcing companies to change the way they do business. “In many ways, making auto production more efficient is better for the bottom line, and it’s good marketing,” said Mike Ferry, transportation program manager for California Center for Sustainable Energy.
No Waste
Subaru of America reaped a truckload of publicity several years ago after its Indiana factory became the first “zero landfill” auto plant in the U.S., which means it ships virtually nothing to the dump. The factory recycles 99.9 percent of the waste generated in the automaking process. The company said its efforts saved 55,400 cubic yards of landfill space last year, equivalent to the annual disposal of 71,134 residents.
Many other companies also are chanting the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra. All of Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s assembly plants — 11 in North America and seven in Japan – are “zero landfill,” the company claimed. General Motors Co., meanwhile, said that 52 percent of its facilities – 76 sites globally – are now zero-landfill and the number is growing. GM said it recycled or reused 2.5 million tons of waste materials last year, including 1.79 million tons of scrap metal, 126,850 tons of wood and 2.8 million gallons of oil. It pays off, said GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel. “We had $2.5 billion in revenue in the last four years from our recycling efforts. When you integrate sustainability efforts into mainstream business, there’s a good business case for it.”
At Toyota, one of the industry’s leading “green” companies, employees everywhere – from corporate headquarters to the smallest warehousing facility – are steeped in “Kaizen,” the now-famous Japanese philosophy that stresses continuous improvement. Kaizen teams work hard to improve quality, reduce injuries, cut costs and, at most facilities, special teams also meet weekly to come up with new ways to make the manufacturing process more environmentally friendly, said Victor Vanov, an external affairs specialist at Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America. Already, twelve of Toyota’s 14 North American plants send virtually nothing to landfill, he said, and efforts are underway to do the same with the two remaining plants. “There’s always room for improvement,” he said, “no matter what you do.”
Take A Hike
Toyota also is working to retool the behavior of its workforce. At the manufacturing division’s headquarters in Erlanger, KY, a remaining morsel of a lunch sandwich ??? or anything else from meals that’s biodegradable – is discarded in a compost container. Other refuse goes into another bin. “It’s the responsibility of every team member to segregate their waste,” Vanov said. “It’s a matter of practicing what we preach.” A personal wastebasket is a luxury nobody at TMEMNA gets. Eat a banana while at your desk and you’re expected to carry the peel to the compost bin when you’re finished. Discarding paper means a walk to the shredder. Not even bigwigs are exempted. “A lot of people say, ‘Certainly your president has a trash bin under his desk,’” Vanov remarked. “Well, that’s not the case. He has to do the same thing as the rest of us.”
For the banana peel, it’s just the first leg of the journey. It is collected along with everything else in the compostable waste bins at Erlanger and hauled to a large composting site at the company’s Georgetown, KY plant. There, it is transformed into mulch used at a six-acre vegetable garden tended to by employees. The garden donated 2,500 pounds of produce worth about $3,500 to a local food pantry last year. At Halloween, children at the plant’s day care center get the pumpkins grown in the garden.
Gardening has caught on elsewhere, including at Subaru of America Inc.’s headquarters in Cherry Hill, NJ, where employees nurture a “Share-the-Love” garden, growing herbs, eggplant, zucchini and other veggies to give to non-profits. Last year, 720 pounds of produce was donated, the company said. “It’s an opportunity for employees to literally roll up their sleeves and work in the garden during their work day,” said Subaru spokeswoman Rachelle Damminger.
Dandelion Rubber
Greater attention is being paid to interior materials. Ford is working with Ohio State University to determine whether it can swap out petroleum-based synthetic rubber in its vehicles for rubber made from the milky substance that seeps from Russian dandelion roots. The substance also could be used in cupholders, floor mats and interior trim, Ford said. The company already uses soy oil instead of petroleum to make the foam in its seat cushion pads and uses material that includes recycled blue jeans in carpet padding.
Source: AutoObserver.com
By AutoObserver Staff Reporting and story by contributor Leslie Earnest