GM Plans to Reduce Waste from Facilities by 10% (with video)

General Motors Corp. (GM) has issued its first global sustainability report, which includes a goal of reducing waste from all facilities by 10 percent in the next 10 years.

The Detroit-based vehicle maker also said it hopes to achieve landfill-free status at 100 manufacturing sites and 25 non-manufacturing sites. GM said in a news release it also plans to reduce energy intensity from facilities by 20 percent in the next 10 years and promote use of 125 megawatts of renewable energy by 2020.

These goals follow the company’s accomplishments in 2010 and 2011 of having more than half its global manufacturing operations become landfill-free by recycling, reusing or converting to energy all daily operation waste. So far 81 manufacturing facilities have earned the designation. GM said it also has recycled 92 percent of the waste generated by all of its combined worldwide facilities.

“Sustainability feeds our bottom line, and sustaining a profitable business is our ultimate responsibility,” said GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. “Profits enable reinvestment – in R&D to reimagine a car’s DNA; in cleaner, more fuel-efficient technologies; in plants that better conserve resources; in improved vehicle safety; in job creation and stability; and in the communities in which we live and work.”

For a video of GM’s sustainability plans, click here.