GM Adds Two Midwest Facilities to Landfill-Free List

Old Man Winter may be covering the Midwest with snow and record-low temperatures, but two of our facilities aren’t covering landfills with any waste.

Our distribution centers in Chicago and Hudson, Wis., are the latest facilities to achieve landfill-free status, meaning all daily waste is reused, recycled or converted to energy.

The warehouses are two of the many customer care and aftersales centers throughout the U.S. that help expedite deliveries of replacement parts to dealerships, an integral part of our commitment to best service our customers.

Since the Chicago and Hudson distribution centers handle thousands of shipments each year, cardboard and wood pallet waste piles up, becoming significant waste streams that need to be managed in order for the facilities to achieve landfill-free.

The Chicago site alone accumulates about 25 tonsof cardboard each year. That’s more than the total weight of 22 Chevrolet Sparks!

Those 25 tons add up financially as well.

In addition to avoiding the cost of disposing that much cardboard, recyclers can earn rebates for certain commodities. The rebate for cardboard in Chicago, for example, is around $100 per ton.

Both facilities work with local recycling partners to help sort recyclables from other trash, but all employees contribute to their waste reduction success, from the plant and resource managers to the workers on the plant floor.

“The employees here at the Chicago distribution center recognize every opportunity to reduce waste and save the company money,” said Carolyn Cooper, plant manager. “This is just another way we can contribute and do our fair share for the company and the environment!”

We work every day to reduce waste from our operations worldwide and are committed to achieve125 landfill-free sites by 2020.  These two additions provide momentum to our ongoing efforts.