Lately GM is mostly mentioned with regards to the bold industrial step it is undertaking with its PHEV the GM Volt. But did you know GM has been inducted to the U.S. EPA WasteWise Hall of fame and that they’ve managed to make over $2.5 billion in earnings since 2007 just by managing their waste? GM Volt, the PHEV. PHEV stands for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Basically it means it’s got a regular internal combustion engine and an electric motor and it can be plugged into the grid. That’s very important and it’s got to do with Vehicle-to-grid technology. Essentially, once infrastructure and system are in place, the GM Volt will aid the power grid at peak-times when energy demand is high by returning clean energy it “harvested” from renewable sources such as solar panels placed on your house roof. That makes EV and PHEV the only way to save renewable energy and return it to the power grid when needed!
U.S. WasteWise hall of fame. GM is impressive when it comes to recycling its waste, corporate nature conservation, and maintaining product quality; that’s why they are the only auto manufacturer to date to have been inducted into the U.S. WasteWise hall of fame! Let’s see if they deserve the induction, here are some bullet points based on information from our correspondant at GM:
1. On average all GM’s facilities recycle 91% of all waste during normal operations.
2. They reuse materials from their own waste streams without compromising the quality requirements (cardboard boxes are turned into sound-absorbing substrate, used tires are shredded and used for air and water deflectors, paint sludge is used to make reusable shipping containers, they use recycled denim in the sound-absorbing mats rather than traditional petroleum-based foam).
3. GM is striving to make all of their facilities landfill-free. That means 97% of all waste from normal operations is either recycled or reused and the remaining 3% is converted to energy. GM has already reached the 50% marker - half of all GM facilities are landfill-free.
4. They have a freakin’ 16 ACRE WILD LIFE HABITAT at their Grand Blanc facility in Michigan. A volunteer group of GM workers helps with the site and in just one year, the amount of birds on the grounds increased 72%, plants increased 65% and mammals increased 20%. According to Maricay Scott, director of Real Estate and Facilities at GM, one of their components in the environmental impact program is lowering the disruption GM facilities have on their surroundings. And THAT is why Wildlife Habitat Council just recertified the site and gave it an International Habitat Conservation Award.
$2.5 billion dollars. That is the amount of revenue created by the waste management program since 2007. Not only are they lowering their impact on the ecosystem by consuming less energy, recycling their own waste and reducing the impact of their facilities on their immediate surroundings, they are also saving money! Lots of money.
Skeptics will say there are a number of issues to be analyzed in production of automobiles especially the kinds with batteries in them before saying an auto manufacturer is truly green. True, in fact we will look into it in one of the upcoming articles. But until then, this short review portrays GM as someone on the forefront of eco-conscious automotive industries. Credit should be given where it’s due: John Bradburn (GM manager of waste reduction efforts) and team don’t start slacking, others might catch up soon.
