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Ford’s Zero Waste-to-Landfill Facility | Lamarque Ford | New Orleans

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Ford’s Oakville Assembly plant in Canada is achieving a manufacturing milestone: zero waste-to-landfill status. Back in 2011, the Ford Motor Company set a goal to reduce global waste-to-landfill in their manufacturing facilities by 40 percent through 2016. As laid out in their sustainability and electric car strategies, Ford has come a long way and their efforts to build global-leading manufacturing operations are paying off. But what does it mean to achieve zero waste-to-landfill status and how is this accomplished? Let’s find out.

Oakville Plant achieves zero waste. Ford sustainability Lamaruqe New Orleans

The Oakville Assembly plant sends zero operational waste to landfills, which means everything used in manufacturing gets either turned into a product or reused and recycled. This is no easy feat. Oakville manufactures the Lincoln MKX, Ford Flex, and Ford Edge, and is also Ford of Canada’s biggest manufacturing facility.

So Where Do We Start?

The first step, says Plant Manager Will Cowell, was to reduce the amount of materials used every day at the Ford facility. This includes less water consumption, less shipping packaging, less energy usage, etc. In other words, by finding a smarter way to use resources, the plant produces less waste, which is easier to manage.

Reusing and Recycling

In addition, the Ford facility reuses thousands of plastic bins and containers every day and recycle cardboard, wooden pallets and paper. Last year alone Oakville recycled almost 2,000 tons of materials, saving more than 8 million gallons of water. Also, the Ford plant filters the water used at the facility and sends the sludge collected to a power generating company.

The Future of Sustainability

As mentioned before, Ford has committed time and resources to ensure its facilities operate at a higher standard than others. Can you imagine if all manufacturing plants were zero waste-to-landfill? One single factory is already having a great beneficial impact on resources conservation and energy saving. Ford’s way to move forward is to plan ahead and work with communities to make this possible.

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Lamarque Ford is proud to be one of the premier dealerships in New Orleans, LA. Located in Kenner, LA, Lamarque Ford is committed to providing you the best customer service and vehicle service for the life of your vehicle. Whether you’re on the market to purchase, finance, or service a new or used Ford vehicle, you’ve come to the right place.

Ford’s Electric Car Strategy | Lamarque Ford | New Orleans, LA

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Mike Tinskey, Ford global director of vehicle electrification and infrastructure has been pretty busy lately. As the Ford Motor Company readies its electric car strategy, Mr. Tinskey has been preaching the company’s new plans, looking to move the ball forward. Ford now offers hybrid or electric options for several models and it plans to create an electric grid of chargers to support their customers nationally. Last June, Tinskey spoke at a California Energy Commission workshop and introduced the blue oval’s road to sustainable energy. 

Part of Ford electric vehicle strategy, among plug-in, hybrids and more

Ford already offers  “electrified” vehicles, including Fusion Hybrid, Fusion Energi, C-Max Hybrid, C-Max Energi and Focus Electric. However, they don’t want to stop there. In 2013, Ford sold almost 90,000 of such vehicles, and as they aim for a bigger number this year they’re planning a power grid to support this growth. Thanks to its Vehicle-Grid Integration initiative, which will allow them to collect data on how electric vehicles are used and what commuting distances they travel, Ford will be in  a position to offer charging stations in the specific areas where they’re needed. This fall, Ford will start a pilot program to demonstrate the need for the communication between vehicles and power suppliers.

The second component of Ford’s sustainable strategy depends on MyEnergi Lifestyle, a collaboration between the car manufacturer and Georgia Tech. MyEnergi Lifestyle is an ongoing experiment where a house is equipped with an electric vehicle, solar panels and new appliances, which result in lower CO2 emissions and bottom line savings for the homeowner. Data gathered from this collaboration has shown that if every home in the U.S. was equipped with such technology, the energy saving would amount to that of eliminating 26 million homes from the electric grid.

Additionally, Ford found that 90% of electric plug-in vehicle owners have a back-up gasoline car. To help reduce this number, the green energy team is proposing workplace charging stations, which is obvious since we spent 8 hours of our day at work.

Ford is also working on off-the-grid projects, which include electric vehicles equipped with solar panels that aim to eliminate refueling (or recharging) out of the equation. Thanks to its research initiatives and new direction towards a greener future, Ford today is a leader in the development of sustainable energy transportation. Ford’s plan to lower CO2 emissions globally begun with the introduction of smaller yet powerful gasoline engines, known as EcoBoost.

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Lamarque Ford is proud to be one of the premier dealerships in New Orleans, LA. Located in Kenner, LA, Lamarque Ford is committed to providing you the best customer service and vehicle service for the life of your vehicle. Whether you’re on the market to purchase, finance, or service a new or used Ford vehicle, you’ve come to the right place.