GM is going beyond the 2010 Chevy Volt with “zero landfill” goal

GM continues to receive a sizeable plume of buzz stretching across the Internet thanks to its innovation in PHEV hybrid cars, namely the Chevy Volt. That’s great because it enables consumers to have less impact on the environment, but what about the footprint GM itself creates while manufacturing vehicles? It’s a materials-intensive trade and the company is taking another step toward green with its “zero landfill” project.

What does that mean? GM committed to recycling or reusing all normal plant waste in half of its manufacturing facilities before the end of 2010. The company is making progress and it shows a willingness to adapt business processes in a climate where sustainability is increasingly tied to profitability.

These sorts of moves are important for GM as it seeks to establish new trust with consumers who have held a certain contempt for the company’s past focus on gas guzzling SUVs. Its PR department is certainly choosing words that resonate with treehuggers:

Waste elimination and recycling at GM’s zero landfill plants and other facilities will prevent more than 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emission reductions from entering the atmosphere this year.

That’s a lot of avoided carbon emissions and it highlights how far we have to go yet before we’re truly respecting the environment. Vehicles like the PHEV 2010 Chevy Volt and all-electric Nissan LEAF change the energy source from gasoline to electricity but our infrastructure for generating electricity isn’t completely clean either.

Here are some examples of how GM is recyling at its “zero landfill” plants:

• Waste aluminum generated at GM facilities is sent to GM foundries to be reused to produce engine and transmission components. 
• Steel, alloy metals, and paper are sent to recyclers for reconstitution into a variety of products. 
• Used oil is reconditioned for reuse in GM facilities. 
• Wood pallets are reused, rebuilt, ground into landscape chips or sent to waste-to-energy facilities.
• Empty drums and totes are refurbished and used again and again.
• Cardboard is collected, compacted and sold for making new cardboard materials.

If GM continues treading down this path it may net some new purchases from people who only want to support a company focused on leaving a viable planet behind for the next generation.