Ford Hits Zero-Waste Target at European Plants

Ford of Europe has achieved zero waste-to-landfill at all of its European manufacturing plants, eliminating 6,000 metric tons of waste a year in the last five years, an amount equivalent to the annual amount discarded by a town of 12,500 people.

Innovative measures were employed to achieve zero waste-to-landfill from the 1.2 million vehicles Ford produces in Europe each year.

These include the briquetting of grinding sludge from the Dagenham, U.K., engine plant so the oil can be reused in the production process. At the Valencia, Spain, assembly plant, Ford is creating alternative fuel from waste that could not be recycled.

The latest plants to achieve zero waste-to-landfill status are the Valencia and Craiova, Romania facilities, which join plants in Bridgend and Dagenham in the U.K., Bordeaux, France; and Cologne and Saarlouis, Germany.

“This achievement is a fantastic base to push on from and further improve in areas such as water and electricity usage reductions as Ford of Europe drives towards the company’s global sustainability ambitions,” Ford Environmental Quality Office Europe Manager Andreas Reiss says.

The automaker’s recently published 2016 Sustainability Report shows last year Ford of Europe rolled out a new energy-management operating system within the Ford Production System. It allows teams to manage demand and remotely control plant energy and heating systems for greater energy efficiency.

Ford’s energy strategy has resulted in a 25% reduction in energy use since 2011, equivalent to an annual saving of 800 gigawatt hours. Also, between 2013 and 2015, Ford lowered its global water usage per vehicle produced to 1,006 gallons (3.81 cu.-m) from 1,067 gallons (4.04 cu.-m).