Photo: John F. Martin, General Motors
Automakers have a very real impact on the environment – from energy used in production to consumers using the fossil fuels that make those cars run. But General Motors is out to reduce its impact in a big way.
The automaker recently added its one hundredth landfill-free facility – a Lansing, Michigan parts distribution center. The same distribution center has officially earned Energy Star certification, meaning the plant performed in the top 25 percent of similar facilities in the United States.
According to a recently released report, GM recycled or reused 2.6 metric tons of auto making materials in 2011. It’s all part of a commitment to make their facilities 100 percent landfill-free.
“GM is committed to reducing its environmental footprint worldwide,” says Mike Robinson, GM vice president of sustainability and global regulatory policy in a press release. “This distribution center in Lansing is proof of our drive to be energy efficient and increase recycling throughout our operations.”
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GM recently released its first sustainability report as a “new company” since taking a governmental bailout in 2009, which outlines ways to design, build, sell and reinvest with the environment in mind, including offering a line of more sustainable vehicles, researching ways to reduce oil dependency and enhancing overall quality of life at the company’s 156 facilities – 64 percent of which are now running as landfill-free properties and more than half of which are global manufacturing facilities.
The car maker has made an equally large impact on the environment since 1997. General Motors has reduced its total waste by 43 percent in 15 years and is committed to reducing it by another 10 percent by 2020.
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