General Motors Waste Plan

Overview

When your company is involved heavy manufacturing, you create heavy duty waste streams. Wilmot worked with Saturn and General Motors (GM) at one of the most forward-thinking manufacturing facilities of its time, where Wilmot helped GM look at waste with a different perspective. We saw raw materials and ways to slash waste. In our first project, Wilmot was able to reduce 75% of the largest waste stream and save $300,000 annually.

Wilmot’s Role

Wilmot used a variety of resources and tools to reduce waste in areas such as the oily waste stream in the powertrain area (75% reduction), wood waste and door panels (eliminated landfill disposal), paint sludge (55% reduction) and adhesive waste (36% reduction). Wilmot worked with staff to build source reduction and raw material conservation into the daily practices of the plant, reuse wastes from one part of the plant as raw materials in another part, and compost food and yard wastes. In working on this project with Saturn, Wilmot:

  • Evaluated handling practices

  • Reviewed equipment options

  • Surveyed potential disposal sites

  • Negotiated with vendors

  • Identified markets for recyclables

Client

General Motors

Location

Columbia, TN

Markets

Manufacturing

Services

Waste Reduction

Sustainability Planning

Secondary Market Identification