Operations

Sustainability in the EcoBlue Production Line

Our state-of-the-art production line for the all-new 2.0-litre EcoBlue diesel engine is using the latest technologies to cut energy and water by up to 50 percent (compared to the previous 1.8-litre production line) for every new engine built.

Sustainability is a key feature of the new production line at our Dagenham Diesel Centre, U.K., with significant annual savings expected:

Three wind turbines provide renewable energy and all the power for the final assembly building, while new LED lighting has been installed to deliver further energy efficiencies
New machining tools enable fine mists of oil to be used in production, which reduces the volume of coolant needed and cuts water consumption by almost 100 percent compared to the previous equipment
Annual water savings could fill seven Olympic-size pools
The energy saved over a year could power 350,000 homes for a week

Zero Waste to Landfill in Our European Facilities

Ford of Europe’s manufacturing plants have reduced the amount of waste destined for landfill sites from an annual 6,000 metric tons to zero in just five years.

Our 12 European manufacturing plants build well over a million cars a year. In 2011, they sent just over 5 kg of manufacturing waste to landfill for each vehicle produced. Since the end of 2016, they send none.

Starting with our plants in Cologne and Saarlouis, Germany, all our European (non-joint venture) plants have become zero waste to landfill (ZWTL) sites in the space of five years – making a big contribution to Ford’s corporate waste reduction efforts.

Meeting the ZWTL Challenge

A key challenge is that waste management infrastructure varies across Europe and municipal facilities are not always fully developed. In some regions, our plants needed to go further and create pioneering, cost-effective approaches with suppliers. At our plant in Valencia, Spain, our local waste management partner opened a sorting facility, enabling all municipal waste to be sorted, recycled and reused instead of being buried in the ground. Any waste that can’t be recycled at the plant is used to generate alternative fuel.

Innovative processes are also key to diverting waste from landfill at our plant in Dagenham, U.K., which creates briquettes and oil (for reuse as fuel) from grinding sludge.