Mexico President Presents TRW's Chihuahua Air Bag Plant With Prestigious Environmental Award
14 November 2000
Mexico President Presents TRW's Chihuahua Air Bag Plant With Prestigious Environmental Award
Business Editors/Automotive WritersCHIHUAHUA, Mexico--Nov. 14, 2000--TRW's air bag plant in Chihuahua, Mexico was one of only 50 companies to receive the coveted "Certificado de Industria Limpia," or Clean Industry Award from Mexico President Ernesto Zedillo in a ceremony last month at Daimler Chrysler's Toluca, Mexico plant.
Awarded by PROFEPA (Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente), the Mexican equivalent of EPA, the Clean Industry Award recognizes companies that have demonstrated environmental compliance through a voluntary auditing process and established programs and practices that protect the environment.
"This award represents the contributions of an entire team of employees at the Chihuahua plant," said Bill Smith, plant manager of TRW Occupant Safety Systems' Chihuahua air bag plant. "With everyone's cooperation and commitment during this process, we were able to achieve this coveted award in a relatively short time. I look forward even more to the longer-term goal of continually advancing the knowledge of our people and the environment so that together we can be the best example of a good neighbor and exceed the expectations of our employees and those in our surrounding communities."
TRW began the Clean Industry Award application process four years ago. Submitting to a PROFEPA audit, the company was evaluated in 600 elements for both national and international environmental compliance. From this audit, TRW established systems and developed action plans to address the improvement areas identified by PROFEPA. Some of the actions included switching to chemicals that are more environmentally friendly, installing equipment to more efficiently and effectively manage emissions, and developing in-plant waste collection sites to better manage the disposal of certain chemicals.
In 1994, TRW invested more than $100,000 for additional air control systems to further reduce the air emissions from buildings already operating well below the maximum levels permitted by the country's regulations. These air control systems, called scrubbers, work like giant vacuum cleaners to collect particulate matter from laser cutting machines used to cut the fabric of the air bags. They literally wash the air, separating and removing airborne material (dust-like) particles before they can be released into the air. These scrubbers reduced air emissions even further by about 80 percent, well below established regulatory requirements.
Smith and Victor Del Palacio, TRW Chihuahua's human resources director, accepted the award on behalf of the company after the plant achieved all 600 elements of the award's criteria earlier this year. Other recipients honored by President Zedillo with the Clean Industry Award included Daimler Chrysler and MOPAR among others.
The TRW Chihuahua air bag plant is part of TRW's global Occupant Safety Systems (OSS) business, providing air bag, seat belt, and steering wheel systems for customers worldwide. TRW's Chihuahua operations are part of the company's inflatable restraints business with North American plants in Mesa, Arizona; Cookeville, Tennessee; Reno, Nevada; and Washington, Michigan.
TRW Chihuahua provides driver, passenger, and side-impact bags for air bag modules and assembles side-impact and curtain modules for customers in North America and Europe. TRW's Chihuahua air bag operation employs about 2,000 employees.
TRW Inc. provides advanced technology products and services for the global automotive, aerospace and information systems markets. The company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the world's largest independent automotive component suppliers with nearly $17 billion in worldwide automotive sales. The company has almost 130,000 employees in 30 countries and 268 facilities around the world. Company news is available on the internet at www.trw.com.