Environment

GM Tonawanda Engine Plant Receives ‘Green Globe’ Award

Feb 8, 2013 1:00 PM ET
Campaign: GM Waste Reduction

DETROIT, February 8, 2013 /3BL Media/ - General Motors’ Tonawanda Engine plant received the Green Globe Award from the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Chamber of Commerce for implementing and practicing a ‘green’ and sustainable business philosophy.  

“We continually strive to leave a smaller footprint and engage employees and residents in a variety of environmental stewardship activities,” said GM Tonawanda Engine plant manager Steve Finch.

Through recycling its scrap metal and converting waste to energy, Tonawanda Engine saved enough electricity in 2012 to meet the annual usage of almost 10,300 homes. The plant is landfill-free, recycling, reusing or converting to energy all waste from daily operations since 2006. Last year, it recycled enough cardboard to save 8,900 trees and enough scrap metal to make nearly 5,000 automobiles.

Additional environmental efforts include:

  • Converting a brownfield area into a wildlife habitat by planting native grasses. Employees will plant 500 shrubs and small trees by this spring, with the habitat expected to be complete by 2020.
  • Installed multiple electric-vehicle charging stations in employee parking lots last year, with plans to install electric-vehicle solar charging canopies in 2013.
  • Participating in tree planting in Riverside Park, hosting an electronic recycling event, and sponsoring an Adopt-a-Highway cleanup day on River Road.

“The winners were selected by the members of our executive board,” said Tracey Lukasik, executive director of the Ken-Ton Chamber of Commerce. “The two major reasons we picked the GM Tonawanda Engine plant are because it recycles or reuses 95 percent of its production waste, with the remaining converted to energy; combined with other employee  contributions. They’ve demonstrated that it’s a plant-wide effort.”

Worldwide, General Motors strives to reduce the environmental impact of its vehicles and facilities. It leads the U.S. auto industry in solar power use, received a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year for energy management, and has more Wildlife Habitat Council certified programs at its sites than any other automaker. With 103 landfill-free sites, no other automaker has as many sites contributing zero waste to landfill.  

For more information on GM’s environmental commitment, visit its sustainability report and environmental blog.

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastest-growing automotive markets.  GM’s brands include Chevrolet and Cadillac, as well as Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.