Shiloh Industries, a leading supplier of lightweighting, noise and vibration solutions, announced that its 11th manufacturing facility has achieved landfill-free status. Utilizing recyclable raw materials and identifying alternative solutions for waste has effectively kept 220 million pounds of waste material out of landfills in the first 10 months of the 2015 fiscal year.
In an ongoing commitment to waste-reduction throughout its manufacturing operations, Shiloh has achieved landfill-free status in all of its European and Mexican facilities. In addition, five plants in the United States also have reached this milestone. The remaining facilities are at an average 97.4 percent landfill-free and working toward completion of this goal.
Shiloh’s tagline, “Lightweighting without compromise” includes striving toward a clean environment, the company noted. Shiloh is focused on delivering sustainability through recyclable end products as well as eliminating manufacturing waste delivered to landfills.
The nature of Shiloh’s lightweighting products and processes eliminate carbon emissions and waste throughout the supply chain. One example is utilizing Shiloh’s laser welding technology, which reduces the amount of aluminum or steel needed to produce a vehicle. The impact of reducing on-vehicle weight can improve fuel economy for internal combustion engine vehicles or extend the battery life on electric vehicles, all while reducing CO2 emissions. This leading technology also reduces the gross tonnage of material required in the entire manufacturing value stream, which lowers energy consumption and produces less greenhouse gasses.
“We continuously improve our product technology and manufacturing processes while maintaining a focus on reducing waste and preserving natural resources. We strongly encourage employees to take part in the initiative every day,” said Rick Capretta, vice president business processes, Shiloh Industries. “We can reduce emissions while increasing efficiency and productivity by eliminating extra materials and steps in our processes.”
Since deployment of the landfill-free initiative, Shiloh has taken various steps to engage employees, including suggestion programs, to encourage waste-reduction and landfill-free ideas. Simple ideas such as providing defined receptacles for trash and recycling in its facilities help to achieve the goal to eliminate waste destined for a landfill. Shiloh facilities are certified to ISO 14001, which guides the organization to having an effective environmental management system.
