Ford Oakville Assembly Goes Landfill-Free
The Oakville Assembly plant in Canada is now landfill-free
Ford’s Oakville Assembly has joined the ranks the automaker’s Canadian manufacturing facilities that have gone landfill-free. This not only makes all of Ford’s manufacturing operations in Canada landfill-free, but it also makes Oakville the first assembly plant in the whole of North America to do so.
“Ford is very proud that all its Canadian manufacturing facilities are sending zero waste to landfill,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of the Americas. “We are expanding our manufacturing footprint in Oakville while decreasing our environmental footprint.”
Oakville’s transition to a landfill-free facility is a significant step in Ford’s quest to reduce global waste-to-landfill figures by 40 percent for every vehicle produced between 2011 and 2016. Ford had previously accomplished the same goal for every car manufactured between 2007 and 2011.
To date, 21 of Ford’s global facilities follow zero waste-to-landfill procedures, which involve practices such as recycling and repurposing wastewater. In 2013 alone, Oakville recycled about 2,000 metric tons of wood, cardboard, paper, and plastic. This amounts to about 5,000 meters of landfill space unfilled and 32 million liters of water unused, or approximately enough landfill space to satisfy the annual needs for a community of 5,500 people.
“Zero waste-to-landfill is made possible through the support of our entire team and a deep commitment to sustainability throughout our plant,” said Will Cowell, Oakville Assembly plant manager. “Many years of process improvement to reduce, reuse and recycle in every way led to this achievement and we’re just as committed to continuing on this path with the same rigor that brought us here.”
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