Half of GM’s plants are landfill-free

Seventy-six of General Motors’ 145 plants are landfill-free, surpassing their goal of having half of their plants at zero waste by the end of this year. On average, 97% of waste gets recycled or reused to make new parts, while 3% gets incinerated to produce energy. Overall plants have recycled or reused 2.5 million tons of waste this year, and GM has made over $2.5 billion from selling waste for recycling since 2007.

Cardboard is turned into sound-absorbing material for headliner in the Buick Lacrosse; plastic caps and other plastic shipping pieces are turned into radiator shrouds for the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra; and recycled tires are used to make baffles – parts under cars that direct air and water.

All GM plants track their waste and produce monthly reports on what waste they’re creating, and what they are and aren’t recycling/reusing. Plants already recycle 90% of their waste, and the challenge now is to find new uses for the last bits of waste that are still being sent to landfills.

John Bradburn, who manages waste initiatives are GM, said ideas come from employees at all levels, suppliers, component makers and beyond. All plants have environmental engineers, and some have people from Waste Management and other contract sources that work as resource managers focused on finding alternatives for waste to landfill.

GM plans to announce their new waste goals in early 2011, according to Sharon Basel from GM’s environment and energy communications department. To read the full story please click here.

Do you think the U.S. auto industry will follow suit after GM? How bold do you think GM’s waste goals will be for next year? Discuss!

Responsible Packaging – The Great Debate

Many companies use plastic in their products, packaging and packing of their packaged products – which amounts to a lot of responsibility for the customer and end consumer!  27% of PET containers were recycled in 2008, which pales in comparison to the 2,500,000 plastic bottles that Americans use every hour.[1]^,[2]  Environmental groups say one of the biggest problems with plastic bottles is that consumers do not recycle them.  So, how responsible are the new plant-based and compostable packages?

Sustainability is more than ‘going green’

Adam Werbach wrote an article in the McKinsey Quarterly last year entitled “When Sustainability Means More Than Green”. It’s common for people to immediately think of “going green”: recycling, conserving energy and anything that has to do with the environment, when hearing the word ‘sustainability’.  What many don’t know is that sustainability is more than just ‘going green’. Werbach states that “companies must consider their social, economic and cultural impact as well” as protecting the environment (McKinsey 74).

Werbach tells us that society has great expecations of successful corporations, and holds them accountable for overcoming the challenges facing our planet today, and in the future. Overcoming these challenges is more than just corporate responsibility, it’s survival. Short-term thinking is the reason why many corporations have not been able to meet the challenges, and sustain themselves. The auto industry is a good example of this.

Green Paper Products

This is a shout-out to a local company who provides 100% biodegradeable and compostable paper products. An associate from the company was nice enough to give us a call and make us aware they are in our area (they’re located on Mayfield Road). They sell everything from plates, cups and silverware to trash bags and food containers. Check out their website at www.greenpaperproducts.com for more information.

Family Feuds over Going Green?

When is the last time you fought with your daughter about doing the dishes, or with your son about taking out the trash?  How about arguing over whether or not to reduce, reuse and recycle, and if so, how much?  What happens when a family is divided over going green, with everyone harboring a different attitude towards the environment?  There’s been some academic research studying these differences between men and women, but how does this play out in real life?  When shopping for a new car, your husband announces he wants to buy a Hummer, when you were thinking about a Prius.  Now what?  Please share with us your stories and how you resolved them….or didn’t resolve them.

How Green Companies are Cashing In (part 1 – Terracycle)

This is the first in a series of posts that will examine how 5 companies–that were highlighted in the recent edition of Fortune Small Business–have focused on sustainable enterprises in surprisingly pragmatic ways in order to weather the economic storm.

The first best practice highlight is of Terracycle:

Entrepreneur Tom Szaky and his company Terracycle have managed to use innovative recycling (spinning trash into consumer goods like Rumpelstiltskin spun straw into gold) to double their revenue every year since 2004.  Fortune Small Business claims that Terracycle’s sales are likely to hit $15 million in 2009.  In addition to being filmed for their new reality TV show, Garbage Moguls, the recycling firm’s 46 employees dream up ways to re-design and re-purpose the mountains of trash in their 250,000-square-foot warehouse.  A few of their creations include pencil cases from Capri Sun juice pouches, picture frames and clocks from circuit boards, kites from Oreo wrappers, and fertilizer called worm poop in Coke bottles (sold at Home Depot, Target and Whole Foods).