Innovation

Striving to attain their zero-waste goals, GM Powertrain touches on multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals. GM’s company-wide sustainability plan focuses on making their company as sustainable as possible, and the Toledo plant has followed the company’s lead to pursue their ambitious sustainability goals. The Toledo plant uses a multi-pronged approach to divert waste from ending up in the landfill. With so many parts required to construct a vehicle, GM strives to reduce all the waste it can from every single part that goes into making a car. This involves reducing any internal waste that would be generated from on site manufacturing, as well as looking for outside parts vendors who have the same ideology. GM also requires any contractors that come into their facility to follow the zero-waste initiative, through their GM Green Construction Practices to ensure all work in their facility is sustainable as well.

GM has all “waste”, or as they refer to it, “a resource out of place,” recycled, reused, composted, or incinerated for energy recovery. The plant recycles common household recyclables such as glass, plastic, aluminum cans, and other more industrial recyclable items such as aerosols cans, used oil filters, absorbent pads, gloves, batteries, fuses, ballasts, and other lamps. As a plant, 92% of recyclable items are recycled, which does not include the scrap metal that is generated internally. GM strives to reuse various items in their manufacturing, including utilizing plastic returnable shipping containers that replace standard disposable packaging used to transport parts from plant to plant. GM also tries to utilize products that can be reused rather than disposed. For example, instead of a disposable absorbent used in the plant, they utilize an outside vendor that uses a reusable absorbent pad that can be used, washed, and reused multiple times. Another important part of GM’s sustainability goals are composting food waste. Partnering with a local company, all of their food waste is sent to be composted rather than to a landfill. GM is actually currently striving to help coordinate a composting program for the entire city of Toledo. This goes to show that GM is invested in sustainability, and strives to help the community be as sustainable as possible as well.

In addition to the initiatives listed above on the plant level, GM as a corporation also strives to be as sustainable as possible. By the end of this year, all of the GM manufacturing sites in Ohio and Indiana will be run on 100% renewable energy through various power purchase agreements. In addition, by 2050 GM wants all of its manufacturing facilities to be powered by 100 % renewable energy. This again shows GM’s commitment to sustainability, and responsibly producing cars for their customers.

Inspiration

While being motivated to produce the best cars, GM is equally motivated in their sustainability efforts. GM’s vision aligns with their Beyond 2020 goals, which strive to make the company as sustainable as possible in the future through various zero-waste and clean energy initiatives. From their zero-waste goals, to renewable energy goals GM shows how even extremely large corporations can be sustainable. In 2005, GM set their first sustainability goal -- to become landfill-free. From there, the company has been committed to increasing their sustainability and decreasing their impact on the environment. GM even requires the suppliers of their parts to make their products with as little waste as possible, and to ensure it is produced responsibly by purchasing from environmentally conscious companies.

Overall impact

The effects of this project may not be visible to the average citizen of Toledo, let alone a landfill employee who deals with trash everyday. However, there is a definite impact and a difference being made. Through this zero-waste initiative, the GM Powertrain factory alone in 2017 diverted over 15 million pounds of waste from the landfill. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants is also a goal of GM, and Chad Young said it best when he said, “In our local community in Toledo, … our employees live in this community also, and they want to feel like our business practices are having a positive impact on their local community.” This just goes to show the mindset of GM, and how they want to positively impact the communities of their factory locations, and where their workers reside in every way possible.

Business benefit

GM was awarded the 2017 Encouraging Environmental Excellence Gold Level Award from the Ohio EPA, which creates a great relationship with the Ohio EPA as GM Toledo Transmission’s regulator, as well as the local leaders in Toledo who acknowledge the sustainability success of this plant . Along with a zeroing of waste brought into their plant, GM has also begun designing vehicles with the end of life in mind, and designing so the least amount possible is wasted on cars when their useful lives are over. By focusing on sustainability, GM has been able to shift its hiring process to only hiring people who share their vision and mission, promoting a sustainable culture in the company and a desire to give back to the community. Their focus on green business practices has also attracted new investors to the company, who are interested in using their investments to better the world. To date, the Landfill Free program, along with other sustainability initiatives, has saved GM $1 billion. The Toledo GM Powertrain plant diverts over 15.5 million pounds of waste from the landfill each year, saving the plant over $280,000 in tipping fees alone.

Social and environmental benefit

GM Toledo Transmission is working to achieve a positive social and environmental impact, not only in the Toledo area, but also in the Great Lakes Region as a whole. By obtaining Landfill-Free status, GM Toledo Transmission has been able to divert 15,561,131 pounds of waste from landfills each year. Going Zero Waste does not just refer to preventing waste from entering landfills, it also includes creating innovative ways to repurpose material that would otherwise be considered waste. This includes reducing the waste material generated in the first place, reusing the materials (onsite or externally), recycling the materials (onsite or externally), composting the materials, and incinerating the materials for energy recovery.

In 2017, GM Toledo Transmission recovered over 466,220 pounds of waste into energy. On average, GM Toledo Transmission is able to reuse, recycle, or compost 91% of their waste, and convert the other 9% of their waste into energy. To put this into perspective, as GM Sustainability Communications Manager Carolyn said, “when you put out garbage on your particular day of the week [to be collected], you're putting [out] more garbage than one of our manufacturing facilities.” For their Beyond 2020 Goals, GM is focusing on establishing even more Landfill Free Sites and also reducing their water consumption, lowering their greenhouse gas emissions, and being powered primarily from renewable energy sources. By 2050, GM has a goal of running entirely on renewable energy; GM Toledo Transmission, as well as all other manufacturing sites in Indiana and Ohio, will have already achieved this goal by the end of this year and will run completely on sustainable wind and solar power, provided both on site and by regional suppliers. In past years, GM Toledo has reduced energy intensity by 30%, which prevented 38,425 metric tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere.

As part of the Landfill Free initiative and in an effort to reduce overall waste production and mismanagement, GM Toledo Transmission has partnered with various local nonprofit organizations to reduce the amount of plastic waste that enters the waterways. GM Toledo Transmission works closely with A Lonely Whale’s Next Wave initiative to intercept ocean-bound plastics from waterways and repurpose them for reuse in auto manufacturing. This includes diverting single-use plastics, such as straws and plastic bottles, and coming up with ways to repurpose them into usable products, such as HVAC filters. Through the Do Your Part Initiative, GM Toledo Transmission helped collect 3.2 million water bottles that were recycled and repurposed into fabric insulation covers for the Chevrolet Equinox v6, air filter components, and insulation for the Empowerment Plan coat that can be converted into a sleeping bag for the homeless.

GM Toledo Transmission is also passionate about giving back to the local Toledo community and bettering society as a whole. By partnering with local nonprofits, such as A Lonely Whale and through the Do Your Part Initiative, GM Toledo Transmission has helped create jobs for women in need. GM Toledo Transmission also reaches out to local schools and brings them in for demonstrations about zero-waste, renewable energy, and composting. They also work with local policymakers, such as the Ohio EPA and local government officials, to promote legislation that supports green, sustainable business practices.

Interviews

Chad Young, Environmental Engineer -- Toledo Transmission Operations

Lauren Smith, Strategic Manager, GM Sustainable Materials Management

Kevin Nadrowski, Plant Communications Manager

Carolyn Markey, Manager, GM Sustainability Communications