US – The plant in Ohio, which makes six- and eight-speed transmissions for light-duty trucks, sports utility vehicles, crossovers and cars, received the award from the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable.
“This award is a celebration of various plant sustainability initiatives, from landfill-free to our ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry distinction,” said Joyce Arakelian, a senior environmental engineer at Toledo. “Our Drive-to-Zero programme helps conserve our resources and enables employees to see the simple and real benefits of energy reduction.”
Over the course of one year, GM Toledo reduced energy intensity by 30%, cutting 38,425 metric tons of carbon. Since 2009, wastewater pretreatment discharges have also been reduced by 60%. Furthermore, the plant installed a 1.8MW rooftop solar array which is claimed to be the largest in Ohio; with the addition of landfill gas, GM Toldeo now takes 19% of its energy from renewable sources.
Toledo is one of GM’s 111 landfill-free facilities worldwide which recycle, reuse or convert to energy all byproducts from daily manufacturing operations.