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“Sustainability and Automobile Manufacturing”

For most of us attending any farmers market or an event like the Charleston Green Fair, cars are not something you typically think of as “green.”  You see organic vegetables, composting, rain barrels, solar and wind power, recycling, and alternative modes of transportation. Even with the current hybrid and electric vehicles, a car is still viewed as a car, and it still carries a certain amount of non-green baggage.

But look under the “hood” of some of the preconceived automobile notions, and you can find something quite surprising.  Take for example, Subaru of America and its parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries.

This organization has done more for sustainability than any other car manufacturer to date. Zero landfill plants, community support for sustainability, Partial Zero Emission Vehicles (PZEVs) , and a new Impreza mileage rating are a few of Subaru’s commitments to contribute to greener production and environmental stewardship.

A Zero Landfill Plant

In 2002, Fuji Heavy Industries challenged their Indiana plant to achieve a zero landfill status by 2006.  This was a huge goal that no one in the automotive industry had previously achieved.

When first considered, management looked at the goal as impossible.  How can you have a manufacturing process and NOT send something to a landfill?  But you can, and as of today, the plant has not sent anything to a landfill since May of 2004.  To put this in perspective, a typical home generates more landfill waste on a daily basis than this plant does in one year.

To reach this level of conservation, the effort began by looking at what was being discarded.  Dumpsters at the end of each production line were tipped over, materials were sorted into piles, and staff began looking at what could be eliminated as waste.  And if it could not be eliminated, they analyzed ways in which the material could be reused and not introduced into the waste stream.

“In 2004, our Subaru of Indiana manufacturing plant became the first automotive assembly facility to be “zero landfill,” meaning all waste is recycled or turned into electricity.” – SOA (Subaru of America) Web Site

One of the first waste streams to present a major challenge was the creation of stamped parts.  Each stamped part contained excess material around the edges.   This material was previously trimmed and discarded.  The new goal was to reduce this trim waste as much as possible.

Once achieved, this one change, which cost almost nothing, saved 102 pounds of steel for every car they manufactured.  It was a huge savings.  In total, this change reduced the number of steel coils used each year by 425.  This in turn used less plant resources and amounted to an energy savings equivalent to powering 2,233 homes for one year.  The plant moved on to improve metal handling, and in 2007 Subaru of Indiana recycled 13,142 tons of scrap metal.

As the plant continued to critically analyze their production methods, more and more savings were found:

1. Parts packaging that was previously discarded is now sent back to Japan, and the packaging is used over and over.
2. Oil used to lubricate engine parts during assembly was applied manually with bottles of oil with small nozzles. The implementation of a new lubricator system saved the plant 670,000 gallons of oil in 2007 alone.
3. The implementation of a fluorescent “bulb eater” crushes and separates bulb parts for reuse and recycling.  In one year, the plant previously generated 4 tons of waste bulbs.  The new process also captures all the hazardous waste material before it escapes into the environment.

The reduce-reuse-recycle mentality seated itself with employees and the savings kept growing.  From using bicycles for transportation in the plant, to recovering materials used to seal welds, more and more areas of savings were found.  And it was not just a material savings.  In the end, the more they recycled and reused, the more electrical energy the plant saved.  In total, in 2007, they saved enough energy to power 6,000 homes for one year – a huge savings.

It was not one huge change that got the plant to where it is today. It was a large number of small steps and changing everyone’s daily routine to think about everything they did in environmental conservation terms.

Sustainability changes didn’t just happen inside the plant.  Changes occurred outside when Subaru decided that environmental stewardship was the right thing to do.  In 2003, “Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. became the first automotive assembly facility to be designated as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.  Over 800 acres serve as a home for birds and animals, including white-tail deer, red-tail hawks, blue heron, Canadian geese, mallard ducks, beavers, coyote, snapping turtles and the bald eagle.” (SOA Web Site) So not only is Subaru watching out for what they put into the environment, they are protecting it and the surrounding wildlife as well.

Support for Community Sustainability

Beyond watching their own “Ps and Qs” in regard to the environment, Subaru has shown solid interest and support for community-based environmental and sustainability efforts.  One of the better examples is their work with Greensgrow Farms and an experiment in urban farming in Philadelphia.

The farm was built on the grounds of an abandoned galvanized steel plant, and thousands of pounds of gourmet vegetables are now grown here each year to supply local Philadelphia restaurants.  Reclaiming parts of the city, like the steel plant, and using that space to show the community where our food is coming from is one of the project’s main goals.

In addition to this urban farming effort, Subaru’s Share the Love Garden was started at its corporate headquarters in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.  This garden project, made up of six 10′x10′ garden plots adopted by Subaru employee teams, aims to donate to local food banks to combat hunger in the region.  Subaru’s partner for this project is also Greensgrow, and they are helping by providing the required farming knowledge and skills for success.

PZEV vehicles

While the zero landfill efforts and urban farming projects are definitely something you don’t see from many automobile manufacturers, people still look to the cars for proof the company is doing the right thing.  And Subaru has done just that with its PZEVs and with the upcoming 2012 Impreza.

Subaru has been offering certified PZEVs since 2003.  These have included several of their models, including the Legacy, Outback and Forester. These vehicles meet California’s Super-Ultra-Low-Emission vehicle exhaust emission standard.  Gas-powered vehicles meeting this standard sometimes have emissions lower than that of hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles.

Moving into 2012, Subaru continues its effort to improve its vehicles in relation to the environment and makes a big change with the fuel efficiency of their all wheel drive Impreza.  The automatic version of the Impreza gets 36 MPG on the highway. This is 36 MPG “out of the box,” as Subaru states, for an all-wheel drive vehicle. No economy pack, electric assist system, or additional technology cost.

See For Yourself

So at this year’s Greenfair, look at Subaru, and look at what the company is doing for sustainability in manufacturing.  Look at their support for community-based projects that focus on sustainability.  Look at their trend in new cars and the improved fuel efficiency. Look at how this fits into a complete picture of creating greener solutions, and you just might find yourself seeing cars that do fit into greener concepts.

We hope to see you at the Greenfair.  Please stop by with any questions you might have on Subaru’s sustainability efforts.

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