HANNOVER, Germany At the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show, Meritor Inc. highlighted its commitment to being a greener and more environmentally friendly company, including eliminating waste going into landfills, as well as reducing the use of electricity and water.
The Lindesberg, Sweden, facility, one of Meritor’s largest wholly owned manufacturing facilities, is one of two Meritor plants that are 100 percent landfill free. The company has a long-term goal of eliminating waste to landfills at all global production sites by 2020.
"Meritor is committed to sustainability efforts that impact not only our local community, but also improve fuel efficiency and operations across the globe," said Tomas Backman, site manager, Meritor’s Lindesberg facility. "At Meritor, all of our locations are involved in environmental efforts, but I’m especially proud of the achievements our facility has made to accomplish ‘green’ goals."
At the company’s Cameri, Italy, plant, the site reduced its water usage by 20 percent by converting to air-cooled compressors and furnace atmosphere generators from water-cooled equipment and using temperature-based regulators to use only enough water needed to cool down other manufacturing equipment.
"Our efforts are resulting in a more efficient use of our equipment as well as product improvement," said Gian Luca Alberti, site manager, Cameri.
Meritor’s Cwmbran, Wales, facility recently refurbished its plant, and removed 277 tons of redundant roof support steel and recycled it for resale in the scrap market. Openings were cut in the roof and 20 skylights installed to reduce the need for artificial lighting. Additionally, the plant installed new, energy-efficient lighting and other infrastructure, such as cooling and heating equipment and air distribution as part of the project.
"We’re driving to ensure we meet our sustainability goals," said Gwyn Gardiner, site manager, Cwmbran. "It’s important that we’re good corporate citizens as well as producers of high-quality products."