Subaru's Zero Landfill Status

The Subaru plant in Indiana was the first automobile plant to achieve zero landfill status. That means that nothing from the plant enters a landfill, which is a truly remarkable accomplishment.

The Subaru of Indiana Automotive plant (SIA) was challenged by Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, in 2002 to reach zero landfill status by 2006. At the time, the plant considered this an unrealistic goal. No other plant had achieved zero landfill status, and four years seemed like too little time to do what had never been done before.

The plant started by looking at just how much was being wasted per day. They decided that they needed to see what waste they could eliminate, and if it couldn't be eliminated, see what they could reuse.

They began by reducing the amount of waste produced. Whether you're cutting cookies or car parts, there is going to be excess trimmed away when you stamp something. Subaru of Indiana Automotive reworked their process for stamping car parts, and for no cost, ended up saving 102 pounds of steel for each vehicle produced.

By reducing the steel used per vehicle, the plant ended up greatly reducing the amount of steel used overall. The Subaru plant reduced their steel consumption by 425 coils per year. This also saved on other resources, which equaled to energy savings that could power around 2,233 homes.

The plant also reduced the amount of packaging they used. The plant previously shipped out parts in packaging that would have inevitably ended up in landfills. Now the company recycles that packaging, reusing it for shipments to and from Japan. 

SIA also reduced the amount of oil they used in lubricating parts. The original process was done by hand and used quite a bit of oil. The process was then automated, and the plant ended up saving 670,000 gallons of oil.

The Subaru of Indiana Automotive has not put anything into a landfill since 2004. The plant basically practices the three R's. They reduced the amount of materials they used, reused materials wherever possible, and recycled what was left. Dedication to environmental stewardship is just another reason why Subaru vehicles are so great.