Ford announced in its annual Sustainability Report, released on 15 June 2012, that it has reduced the amount of energy required to produce each vehicle in its manufacturing facilities by 22 percent in the last six years. The company also announced plans to reduce usage by another 25 percent on a per-vehicle basis by 2016. Decreased energy consumption during vehicle manufacturing is just one highlight of Ford’s 13th annual Sustainability Report.

The report – Blueprint for Sustainability: Accelerating Ahead – is a comprehensive showcase of the company’s efforts to tackle a myriad of sustainability challenges in a rapidly changing world. Other successful initiatives featured include reductions in water use, waste-to-landfill and CO2 emissions as well as improvements in vehicle fuel economy and safety.

“Sustainability has moved from the periphery to the centre of our strategy for succeeding in the marketplace and helping to address global challenges,” said Robert Brown, vice president, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. Ford issued its first Sustainability Report in 1999 to address the company’s initiatives regarding social, economic and environmental issues. Like Ford’s sustainability-related processes and results, the report has evolved, too.

“Our sustainability report is far from a bunch of tables and charts,” said John Viera, global director, Sustainability and Vehicle Environmental Matters. “Anyone who spends any amount of time with it will truly get a sense of just how committed Ford is to supporting positive change and reducing the environmental impact of its products and facilities.”

Consider the drop in energy consumption: The amount of electricity used to produce each vehicle in Ford’s manufacturing facilities has been reduced by about 800 kilowatt-hours – from 3 576 kwh in 2006 to 2 778 kwh in 2011. Through continued efforts the company projects a continued drop in energy consumption – 25 percent between 2011 and 2016. This commitment is made against a backdrop of the US. Department of Energy announcement last September that global energy demand will increase by 53 percent between 2008 and 2035. Environmental reduction in energy consumption is just one result of Ford’s focus on minimizing the environmental impact of the vehicles it produces and the facilities where they are made. Each Ford facility uses measured environmental targets to track and accelerate improvements designed with the environment in mind. The targets are reviewed and updated annually.

In addition to its commitment to further reducing energy consumption, Ford also:
• Reduced the total amount of waste sent to landfills globally by 11.3 percent from 2010 to 2011
• Plans to further reduce its waste to landfill by 10 percent per vehicle this year, building on existing efforts that have reduced global waste by 100 million pounds (44 percent) in the last five years
• Reduced CO2 emissions from global operations in 2011 by eight percent on a per-vehicle basis compared with 2010
• Turned what would have been 163 tons of recovered paint solids into enough power for 20 residential homes for one year through just one of many new ways the company is converting waste to energy
• Advanced water-treatment technologies allow the reuse of water and reduce water supply requirements, water discharges and use of treatment chemicals and the generation of solid waste
• Reduced water use to 4.7 cubic meters per vehicle in 2011 within a corporate goal of reducing the amount of water used per vehicle by 30 percent between 2009 and 2015

“Integration of our sustainability initiatives into the Ford production system has enabled us to accelerate environmental improvements at our manufacturing facilities,” said Andy Hobbs, director, Environmental Quality Office.

“This enables all members of the Ford manufacturing team to contribute to meeting our environmental targets.” Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa’s (FMCSA) state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Silverton, Pretoria, where Ford Motor Company’s global pickup, the Ford Ranger is manufactured, forms part of Ford’s sustainability efforts. The US$100 million state-of-the-art plant utilises the latest auto manufacturing technologies, automated systems and process, and includes a fully integrated stamping line and body shop, trim and final process area FMCSA has also made great strides in innovative energy reduction initiatives at its Silverton Assembly Plant, east of Pretoria.

In the past, Ford relied entirely on the electricity billing information provided by the municipality. This meant there was no means of identifying departments that consumed more electricity than others, making it difficult to drive an effective energy saving programme. In order to combat these challenges, FMCSA introduced the Departmental Electricity Metering and Monitoring System. Planning began in 2009, with the system fully operational from October 2011.

The system allows FMCSA to monitor real time electricity usage by department and plot usage trends over extended periods. South Africa is the first of Ford’s global markets to implement such an initiative and has now set the benchmark for other Ford markets to aspire to.