Focusing on reducing carbon emissions, water usage and trash netted the General Motor’s Toledo Transmission plant with a national pollution prevention award. This accomplishment is pretty remarkable and great for the environment.
The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable gave the award to the plant during an event marking Pollution Prevention Week. Since 2009, the GM Toledo facility has been working on pollution prevention through numerous ways. The facility manufactures both the 6- and 8-speed automatic transmissions for light-duty trucks, SUVs, crossovers and many cars.
Last year, GM Toledo reduced its energy intensity by 30 percent which avoided 38,425 metric tons of carbon. They have also seen a 60 percent reduction in wastewater pretreatment discharges since 2009.
Also helping boost their pollution prevention efforts is a 1.8-megawatt rooftop solar array they installed last year. The largest solar array in Ohio, along with using landfill gas, combined was able to provide 19 percent of the facility’s energy.
The plant is also one of GM’s 111 landfill-free facilities. Every byproduct from the plant is recycled, reused or converted to energy.
“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 the facility. “Our Drive-to-Zero program helps conserve our resources and enables employees to see the simple and real benefits of energy reduction.”
Winning these awards is great for employee morale and shows the vehicle production process in a more positive light. Whether you are an environmentalist or not, it is a win-win for everyone when production facilities work to become more energy and pollution responsible.
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