They've Had Their Fill

Half of GM's manufacturing plants to go "landfill-free" by 2010

Posted at 7:04 AM on 05 Sep 2008

Automaker GM is planning to make half of its 181 manufacturing plants worldwide "landfill-free" by 2011 through initiatives to reuse or recycle some 90 percent of its waste, according to USA Today. The not-reused, not-recycled portion of the waste would potentially be incinerated to produce energy. GM has yet to formally announce the program, but USA Today reports that the company already has 10 "landfill-free" plants in operation and a spokesperson told the paper that another 80 plants will likely meet the no-landfill-waste goal sometime in 2010. GM, along with other U.S. automakers, has been struggling financially lately as high gasoline prices have substantially curtailed SUV sales that had been a central part of its business model. Automakers that have focused on offering greener vehicles, such as Honda and Toyota, have lately fared much better than GM whose green-car offerings are still quite slim. However, GM has focused its efforts on developing one green car, the Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid slated for release sometime in the next few years when battery technology catches up to GM's design.

source: USA Today

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Comments: (7 comments)

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Who's Killing The Oil Fueled Car?

The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_37/b40990 ...

Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.

...if there are self made Purgatories, then we all have to live in them.
--"This Side of Paradise", TOS

by jabailo at 8:47 AM on 05 Sep 2008

Read Between the Lines

Is this because they are going to close down half their plants by 2010?

It is not about us, it is about everyone. http://www.everyoneforever.org/

by racc at 10:56 AM on 05 Sep 2008

You gotta love GM

They sure are spending the lions share of their marketing efforts towards appearing green, what with sponsoring Planet Green and all. Especially since their chairman said global warming is a crock.
http://sattlerclothing.com/blog/2008/02/25/gm%e2%80%99s-v ...

by starsky at 4:10 PM on 05 Sep 2008

Plug In Zealots On the Defensive!

http://hydrogendiscoveries.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/al-go ...

Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens Hydrogen Education Challenge, Week 6 summary

(All of the articles on the Hydrogen Discoveries blog are a must read!)

Here is a list of hydrogen facts that were posted in week 6 of the Hydrogen Education Challenge:
(Note: The seven items from day 26 to day 32 cover plug-in battery technology which is a competitor of hydrogen fuel cells.)
Day 26
Honda CEO Takeo Fukui blasted plug-in battery technology in a Wall Street Journal interview in June by saying:
"Wall Street Journal: Other auto makers, including Nissan Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., are planning to launch electric vehicles, but Honda isn't offering this alternative. Why not?
...
Day 27
...
"There is a group of `EV Zealots' who are constantly criticizing all hydrogen related work based on flawed arguments and without examining all the costs of a plug-in system."

by jabailo at 9:47 AM on 07 Sep 2008

More spam

JB that's more spam. Is is just me or are the hydrogen advocates having a hard time competing with reality?

Put the Carbon Back

by Pangolin at 10:52 AM on 07 Sep 2008

No Competition

"...more spam...competing with reality"

I compete by providing data, links to articles in the general press and rebuttals to data-driven arguments.

You compete by calling me names, by starting every post with "Sheesh" or "Whew".

There's no competition.

You lose.

...if there are self made Purgatories, then we all have to live in them.
--"This Side of Paradise", TOS

by jabailo at 6:32 PM on 07 Sep 2008
[ Parent ]

Truly, that's spam.

It's a link to a guy's blog promoting his hydrogen pipeline startup company. A company that would be completely redundant if we used plug-in hybrids.

It's not a link to a journal or even a news report that would indicate that the extensive resource needs of a conversion to hydrogen fuel would trump battery technology using existing infrastructure.

New infrastructure needed for plug-in hybrids: Extension cords and charging stations in parking lots. A Prius with a battery upgrade kit and a plug counts.

New infrastructure needs for hydrogen: Untold billions in generation, compression, pipeline, storage and transfer facilities in addition to the vehicles (currently unavailable at actual cost vs. massively subsidized prices)

Your postings re: hydrogen are dishonest spam IMHO.

Put the Carbon Back

by Pangolin at 7:22 PM on 08 Sep 2008
[ Parent ]

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