Zero. It’s a number that most people aren’t too fond of—that is, unless a trail of them follows another number in their pocketbook. Here at Ford, it might just be our new favourite number. Why, you ask? Zero is the amount of operational waste that makes it to the landfill in all of Ford Canada’s manufacturing facilities. Ford’s vehicle assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario—home of the Lincoln MKX, MKT, Ford Flex and the 2015 Global Edge—has become Ford’s first North American Assembly plant to send zero waste to landfill. A deep commitment to sustainability coupled with unwavering teamwork makes a zero waste to landfill mandate work.
Zero Waste to Landfill
By sticking to the tried and tested formula of reduce, reuse and recycle we’ve been able to accomplish some amazing things. We look for every possible way to reduce the amount of materials we use each day: less water, less packaging, less energy. We reuse items in the plant, like specially moulded plastic containers to store items. All traces of wooden pallets, cardboard and paper are dutifully recycled. These efforts save 5,000 cubic metres of landfill space; the same amount of waste a town of 5,000 people would produce in a year!
With victories like these, Ford is another step closer to reaching its goal of reducing global waste to landfill by 40 per cent per vehicle produced from 2011 to 2016. But the work doesn’t stop here. We all have a part to play in making the world a better place and as long as we continue to make vehicles that help you go further, there will always be more goals to chase. Learn what else we’ve done to improve our sustainability footprint.