Ford’s Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant has attained zero waste-to-landfill status, which means the company is now landfill-free in all of its Mexico manufacturing facilities.
As a result, Ford Mexico’s manufacturing plants are diverting 1.5 million pounds of landfill waste this year and each year going forward, based on 2014 rates for waste generation, the company says in its 2014-15 sustainability report.
The Hermosillo facility, as well as Ford’s Cuautitlan and Chihuahua plants in Mexico, will help the company achieve its target of reducing global waste-to-landfill by 40 percent per vehicle produced from 2011 to 2016; Ford reduced global per vehicle waste-to-landfill by 40 percent from 2007 to 2011.
Work began nearly five years ago to make Ford Mexico’s manufacturing plants landfill-free. Nearly 45 tons of cafeteria waste now are composted and reused by farmers to improve agricultural growth and community green areas surrounding the plants. Solvents are recycled and scrap aluminum is collected for reuse, creating closed-loop systems.
Hermosillo joins 27 other Ford facilities worldwide in achieving zero waste-to-landfill status. Thirteen of those facilities are in North America; seven are in Europe, five in Asia Pacific and three in South America.
Ford’s sustainability report also highlights the company’s work to meet its goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 30 percent per vehicle produced by 2025 globally. From 2013 to 2014, CO2 emissions per vehicle produced decreased by more than 2.4 percent, and the company remains on track to meet its longer-term goal.
Ford has also reduced its global water use over the last several years. In 2014, the automaker announced it reduced per vehicle water use by 30 percent globally from a 2009 baseline — reaching its goal two years ahead of schedule.
From 2011 to 2016, Ford’s average energy consumption is on track to decrease per vehicle produced globally by 25 percent. Plus, since 2000, Ford has invested more than $300 million on energy efficiency upgrades to its global facilities.
Additionally, Ford’s industry-exclusive use of Repreve fiber will help divert more than 5 million plastic bottles from landfills by incorporating the sustainable material made of recycled plastic into the all-new 2015 F-150 pickup. F-150 is the fifth vehicle worldwide to be outfitted with Repreve. Ford began using Repreve in 2012.
