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GM Makes More Plants Landfill-Free
Sep 16 2008 by Emily Hansen
9/16/08
More Than 96 Percent of Materials Recycled at Landfill-Free Plants
The “G” in GM now stands for green. GM recently announced its plans to make half of its 180 parts manufacturing plants landfill-free by 2010. It already has 43 plants that have accomplished this monumental feat of recycling, and 12 of these parts manufacturers are in the U.S. I’m impressed by this move since I’ve been working hard to become landfill-free at my house for quite some time (if only I could get all of my household members on board).
More than 96 percent of materials are recycled or reused at GM’s landfill-free plants, according to GM. This year’s efforts will prevent 3.65 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Things like scrap metal, oil, wood, plastic and cardboard will be refurbished or recycled and sold. GM’s scrap metal sales alone are generating nearly $1 billion annually. I wish recycling my aluminum cans could raise that kind of cash.
With numbers like that, I’ll bet the income created for GM is the driving force behind this initiative. I’ll also bet that GM’s green PR quotient went up a bit. But GM isn’t the only automaker to go green: Subaru’s Layfayette, Ind., plant is the first zero-landfill auto manufacturing plant in the U.S. Read about Subaru’s plant here in Cars.com’s series on Indiana automakers.
What matters to me is that these plants will benefit the planet and its sustainability, and that’s good for all of us.
