GM Touts Success of its Landfill-Free Plants

General Motors has announced that its Lansing, Mich., parts distribution facility has become landfill free, making it the 100th GM facility that is landfill free.

Along with eliminating any material being landfill, GM says that in 2011 it recycled or reused 2.6 million tons of material at its facilities worldwide.

“Our landfill-free program continues to strengthen our business by creating efficiencies, generating revenue and inspiring innovation with products made from recycled content,” says Mike Robinson, GM’s vice president of sustainability and global regulatory affairs. “It’s a mission that’s integrated within our business processes. Everyone here plays a role in its success.”

“One of GM’s secrets to success is its cultivation of a strong network of suppliers committed to recycling materials and keeping them in use,” says Steve Hellem, executive director of Suppliers Partnership for the Environment, a forum for automakers, suppliers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Their team regularly facilitates conversations, connects companies and even showcases creative recycling examples for others.”

In its first sustainability report as a new company, GM committed to achieve 25 more landfill-free sites and reduce total waste by another 10 percent by 2020. Since 1997, the company has reduced total waste by at least 43 percent.

In 2011, GM reduced total waste generated per vehicle by 5 percent at its global manufacturing facilities.