Volvo Becomes Zero-Landfill Facility
The Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) site in Shippensburg,
Pennsylvania, has achieved zero landfill status. The North American campus is
only the second Volvo CE location worldwide to earn this designation, which is
certified by Volvo Group. The first one is in Braas, in southern Sweden.
All waste generated is now recycled, composted or converted to electricity.
This includes day-to-day manufacturing and assembly operations, as well as
office activities, preventive and reactive maintenance of equipment and
facility systems and its on-site cafeteria.
Volvo CE Shippensburg consists of seven stand-alone buildings on 192 acres,
with a total area of 838,342 ft2 under roof. The site employs over
800 people.
The journey to zero landfill was a multi-year, multi-step process in
partnership with Waste Management, the site’s waste service provider.
“The Volvo Core Values team has worked closely and earnestly with departments
across the Shippensburg site to become a zero landfill facility. This has led
to employees making good decisions and doing the right things,” said Rich
Halter, safety and environmental manager at Volvo CE. “Not only are we keeping
wastes from entering landfills, but we have also significantly reduced our
costs for waste handling.”
In six years, the site saw its waste handling costs slashed by over 50%. In 2019 alone, the site recycled 1,171 tons of cardboard, paper, wood, scrap metals and plastics. These efforts equate to saving:
- 4,248 mature trees or,
- 3,323,689 kWh of electricity, enough power to fulfill the annual electric needs of 318 homes or,
- 3,757 tons of greenhouse gas emissions or,
- 769,300 gallons of water, enough to meet the daily fresh water needs of 10,257 people.
Volvo’s team works closely with the waste service provider on new methods to smartly reduce waste and cost. Waste fractions can be tracked and generated for review at any time. All new manufacturing projects undergo a waste evaluation by a Volvo cross-functional team to ensure they meet zero landfill requirements.
For further information, please visit https://www.volvoce.com/press.