GM Plant Sets Standard for Environmental Stewardship

Toledo Transmission earns top recognition from Ohio EPA

TOLEDO, OH -- August 18, 2015: Toledo Transmission – a General Motors facility that sends no waste to landfills and is home to Ohio’s largest rooftop solar array – is being recognized by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for setting a high standard of environmental stewardship.

GM earned the Encouraging Environmental Excellence (E3) Gold-level Award based on ongoing initiatives that reduce the plant’s carbon footprint.

“GM is a leader in environmental stewardship,” said Ohio EPA Director Craig W. Butler. “GM’s efforts are conserving energy and water, improving Ohio’s air quality and, by making the plant more efficient, benefitting the company financially. Indeed, good environmental policy is good economic policy.”

The state recognized Toledo Transmission for the following actions:

Recycling, reusing or converting to energy all waste from daily operations.

Meeting the U.S. EPA ENERGY STARŪ Challenge for Industry by reducing energy intensity by 27 percent in three years.

Replacing 3,900 lighting fixtures with 3,600 energy-efficient T8 fluorescent and LED lights, using motion sensors in the warehouse to further conserve energy.

Using renewable landfill gas to power 19 percent of the facility’s energy needs and a 1.8Mw solar array to provide 3 percent of its electricity.

Changing a machined parts cleaner solution to one that performed at room temperature, saving water and energy.

Earning Wildlife at Work certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council for a habitat program that attracts a variety of animals and pollinators.

Mentoring youth on water quality and how their everyday actions impact local rivers and streams through the GM GREEN partnership.

Last year, the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable recognized the plant and its 2,000-plus employees with an award for its track record in pollution prevention and sustainability.

“This is our community and we believe in being good neighbors,” said Joe Choate, plant manager. “Our people go to work with a sustainability mindset, providing us with innovative ways to build transmissions with less environmental impact.”

The facility manufactures six-speed and eight-speed automatic transmissions for cars, crossover vehicles, light-duty trucks, and SUVs.