How Honda Achieved Zero Waste to Landfill
Honda has achieved one of the most important targets in the company's longstanding "Green Factory" initiative in North America: zero-waste-to-landfill. Ten of 14 Honda manufacturing plants in North America are now operating with zero waste to landfill, while the remaining four plants are functioning with "virtually zero" waste to landfill. Waste sent to landfills has been dramatically reduced at Honda auto plants throughout North America—from 62.8 pounds of industrial waste to landfills for every automobile produced in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001(FY2001), to an estimated 1.8 pounds per automobile in the current fiscal year 2012. Among all of its 14 plants in North America, Honda now sends less than one-half of 1 percent of all operating waste to landfills. Remaining waste product is either recycled or used for energy recovery. Many of the waste-reduction and recycling activities were undertaken through Honda's associate involvement programs, including its "NH Circle" quality circles, where teams of associates throughout the company engage in an annual competition to improve Honda's value to its customers and society, with a strong focus on efficiency, cost and waste reduction.
