At Borgman, we know Ford’s line of gas-sipping hybrids and engineering feats like EcoBoost on heavy trucks go a long way to help Mother Earth. But the manufacturer is “going further” to “go green” in its manufacturing process too! Cutting waste-to-landfill at Ford’s Van Dyke Transmission Plant has always been important to workers there, but they weren’t satisfied until last fall, when a small, diligent local committee played a major role in solving a nagging 10-ton problem. The solution – a way to keep 10 tons’ worth of 8-foot-long, 350-pound fabric coolant filters from being landfilled monthly – means the Van Dyke facility is Ford’s first North American zero waste-to-landfill transmission plant and now diverts a total of 15 tons of waste-from-landfill monthly.
Moreover, the solution exemplifies how Ford already is making progress on plans to reduce the amount of waste-to-landfill from its facilities worldwide as outlined in the company’s new five-year global waste reduction strategy. Under the plan, waste-to-landfill will drop to just 13.4 pounds – or by 40 percent – per vehicle by 2016.
The comprehensive strategy covers all angles of Ford’s waste reduction plans – from working with global suppliers to use more eco-friendly packaging, to enabling employees such as those at Van Dyke to play an active role in coming up with ways to help Ford reach its goals. Even kitchen waste is addressed.
Andy Hobbs and his global environmental quality team have reduced waste to landfill by 44 percent in the past five years alone. That’s both impressive and incredible. But as Director, Ford Environmental Quality Office, Andy’s all about the S-word: sustainability.
