• Ford releases its 16th annual Sustainability Report highlighting its achievement of several environmental goals, including Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant attaining zero waste-to-landfill status – giving Ford the distinction of becoming landfill-free in all of its Mexico manufacturing facilities

• Use of industry-exclusive REPREVE fiber in the all-new 2015 Ford F-150 will divert more than 5 million plastic bottles from landfills

• Guided by its Ford Smart Mobility plan, the company’s global mobility experiments are testing new ideas to address future mega trends and transportation challenges
  

Ford is making strides, once again, toward changing the way the world moves – highlighting key mobility mega trends and the company’s environmental achievements in the release of its 16th annual Sustainability Report.

The report highlights Ford’s achievement in reducing global waste-to-landfill by announcing Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant attained zero waste-to-landfill status early this year, giving the company the distinction of now being landfill-free in all of its Mexico manufacturing facilities. As a result, Ford Mexico’s manufacturing plants are diverting 1.5 million pounds of landfill waste this year and each year going forward, based on 2014 rates for waste generation.

The success of the Hermosillo facility, as well as Ford’s Cuautitlan and Chihuahua plants in Mexico, will help the company achieve its target of reducing global waste-to-landfill by 40 percent per vehicle produced from 2011 to 2016; Ford reduced global per vehicle waste-to-landfill by 40 percent from 2007 to 2011.

“Ford is proud that all of its manufacturing facilities in Mexico are sending zero waste to landfills,” said Andy Hobbs, director, Ford Environmental Quality Office. “We are decreasing our global environmental footprint while maintaining world-class manufacturing systems.”

Work began nearly five years ago to make Ford Mexico’s manufacturing plants landfill-free. Nearly 45 tons of cafeteria waste now are composted and reused by farmers to improve agricultural growth and community green areas surrounding the plants. Solvents are recycled and scrap aluminum is collected for reuse – creating closed-loop systems.

Hermosillo joins 27 other Ford facilities worldwide in achieving zero waste-to-landfill status. Thirteen of those facilities are in North America; seven are in Europe, five in Asia Pacific and three in South America.

“We are proud of our employees and plant leaders for working to make Ford landfill-free in Mexico,” said Luis Lara, manager, Ford Mexico Office of Environmental Quality. “We have gone beyond mandated regulations to become a true example of environmental excellence.”

Reducing the company’s environmental impact
Ford’s Sustainability Report also highlights the company’s work to meet its aggressive goal to reduce CO₂ emissions by 30 percent per vehicle produced by 2025 globally. From 2013 to 2014, CO₂ emissions per vehicle produced decreased by more than 2.4 percent, and the company remains on track to meet its longer-term goal.

Ford also significantly has reduced its global water use over the last several years. In 2014, the automaker announced it reduced per vehicle water use by 30 percent globally from a 2009 baseline – reaching its goal two years ahead of schedule.

From 2011 to 2016, Ford’s average energy consumption is on track to decrease per vehicle produced globally by 25 percent. Plus, since 2000, Ford has invested more than $300 million on energy efficiency upgrades to its global facilities.

Furthering the company’s commitment to sustainable materials, Ford’s industry-exclusive use of REPREVE fiber will help divert more than 5 million plastic bottles from landfills by incorporating the fully sustainable material made of recycled plastic into the all-new 2015 F-150 pickup. F-150 is the fifth vehicle worldwide to be outfitted with REPREVE. Ford began using REPREVE in 2012, and remains the only automaker to do so.

Ford’s focus on mega trends
Mindful of the present but with an eye on what’s to come, Ford is working to visualize the future of the company – guided by these mega trends:

• Urbanization, congestion: There are 28 megacities today – metropolitan areas with more than 10 million people. That’s expected to grow to 41 megacities worldwide by 2030. Today’s infrastructure can’t accommodate the number of vehicles projected to be on the road

• Growing middle class: According to The Brookings Institution, the global middle class will double in size – from 2 billion to 4 billion – by 2030. Many will aspire to own vehicles – bringing a new set of challenges

• Health concerns, air quality: According to the World Health Organization, severe challenges relating to health and air quality will exist in developing nations – despite strides being made to improve the situation

• Changing consumer attitudes, priorities of Millennials: Those born between the early 1980s and early 2000s will influence how companies make product decisions

• Limited natural resources: Companies will be challenged to find innovative ways to address the impacts of energy use, water use and increasing demand for raw materials

In response to these challenges, the automaker announced this year Ford Smart Mobility. The plan – including a series of global experiments – is designed to take Ford to the next level in the areas of connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and big data.

“Our vision at Ford is to change the way the world moves – again,” said Ken Washington, Ford vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering. “It’s what Henry Ford did a century ago to create a better world, and we’re carrying on his legacy today.”