‘We’ve Come a Long Way and Have a Long Way to Go’ – Ford Reports its Environmental Progress Across Business

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Ford Motor Company today released its 18th annual Sustainability Report, including a short film, detailing its environmental progress across the world and commitment to continued sustainability actions in the future.  

Since 2000, #ford has published its Sustainability Report to track its comprehensive approach to managing the issues related to climate change, air quality and conservation, and 
identifying opportunities that have significant impacts across the business, from water stewardship to supplier training and education.

“We know climate change is real and a critical threat, and we will continue to work with leaders around the world in support of ambitious global greenhouse gas reduction targets,” said Executive Chairman Bill #ford. “At the same time, we have the opportunity to make real environmental progress as we move into a world of smart vehicles and smart environments, including car sharing, multi-modal transportation and dynamic shuttles.”

Ford has collaborated with several other leading organisations throughout the years to increase the company’s transparency and depth of environmental initiatives. A good example of this is Ford’s recent pledge to the Business Alliance for Water and Climate’s “Improve Water Security” initiative in June – the first automaker to do so.

Business Alliance for Water and Climate is a partnership between the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate, Carbon Disclosure Project, SUEZ and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This coalition created a program of actions for companies to demonstrate their commitment to being responsible water stewards.

Between August 27 and September 1, World Water Week – organised by Stockholm International Water Institute – will address the theme; “water and waste: reduce and reuse”. World Water Week is the annual focal point for the globe’s water issues.

“Every day, we work to do the right things for our customers, communities and the planet,” said Kim Pittel, group vice president, sustainability, environment and safety engineering. “Through our integrated sustainability approach, we’re embedding sustainability best practices throughout our company and our supply chain to help make people’s lives better.”

Sustainability Report Highlights
The 2016-17 #ford Sustainability Report highlights key environmental benchmarks and the automaker’s ongoing work to address issues related to climate change, including:

Water Stewardship
Believing that access to clean water is a human right, #ford made the decision to join the Business Alliance for Water and Climate “Improve Water Security” initiative enables the company to help analyse water-related risks, implement collaborative response strategies and reduce impacts on water availability and quality in both direct operations and along the value chain. Since 2000, #ford has cut water use by more than 61 per cent, with a goal of zero usage of drinkable water in manufacturing. In addition, #ford suppliers who participate in the voluntary Partnership for a Cleaner Environment program are on track to save an estimated 2 billion litres of water over the next five years – enough to fill 837 competition-sized swimming pools, according to data collected in 2016.

The state-of-the-art production line for the 2.0-litre #ford EcoBlue diesel engine at the Ford’s Dagenham Diesel Centre, U.K., has reduced water and energy consumption per engine produced by more than 50 per cent. Water use per engine is among the lowest at any #ford manufacturing facility worldwide, and saved 17.5 million litres of water in 2015 – enough to fill seven Olympic-size swimming pools.

Sustainable Materials
Ford continued to expand its sustainable materials research efforts through a collaboration with Jose Cuervo to explore the use of agave plants to develop a sustainable bioplastic material to incorporate in vehicles, giving the agave fibre by-product a second chance at usefulness. Almost 300 vehicle parts are derived from renewable sources such as soybeans, cotton, wood, flax, jute and natural rubber.

Sustainable Manufacturing
Ford has an ongoing commitment to reducing waste in its manufacturing facilities, and as part of that commitment, the automaker expanded its aluminium closed-loop recycling system to three factories. Now in use at Dearborn Stamping, Kentucky Truck and Buffalo Stamping facilities, Ford’s system recycles 9,000 tonnes of military-grade aluminium alloy a month, enough to build more than 37,000 F-Series truck bodies a month.

At #ford manufacturing facilities in Europe, sustainability initiatives includes a new €600m electricity and natural gas heat generation system at Ford’s Saarlouis assembly facility, in Germany, to help reduce CO2 emissions. Five generators – installed in early 2017 – are delivering flexible on-demand power for the plant, in partnership with STEAG New Energies.

The 10-year partnership is expected to deliver a range of benefits, including the saving of 28,168 tonnes of CO2 annually – equivalent to annual CO2 emissions of approximately 20,000 cars,* and generates enough power each year to supply the annual electricity needs of approximately 31,000 typical German homes.**

Supply Chain Sustainability
In addition to reducing the company’s own environmental footprint, #ford is reducing the footprint of its supply chain with an enhanced Partnership for a Cleaner Environment programme that has grown to more than 40 suppliers in 40 countries – up from just 25 suppliers in 2015. Partnership for a Cleaner Environment, which originally focused on water and energy conservation, now has grown to offer best practices for reducing waste, carbon dioxide and air emissions. Carbon emissions could be reduced by nearly 500,000 tonnes globally in the next five years.

Waste Reduction
Ford expanded its true zero-waste-to-landfill program to 82 #ford facilities around the world – 49 manufacturing facilities and 33 non-manufacturing facilities – where absolutely no waste goes to landfill.

Every #ford manufacturing facility in Europe has achieved zero-waste-to-landfill status. Ford’s manufacturing centre in Craiova, Romania, last year became the latest in Europe to reduce waste destined for landfill sites to zero, from 6,000 tonnes per year previously.

The report also details year-over-year progress and goals around the company’s work in the areas of improving safety and fuel economy, reducing manufacturing carbon dioxide, the company global electrification strategy and more.

Responsible Business
For the eighth year in a row, #ford was named to Ethisphere Institute’s “World’s Most Ethical Company” list – the only automaker to achieve this recognition.

In Europe, #ford aims to improve air quality with “all makes” scrappage schemes for older, more polluting vehicles. In Germany, the company recently announced a scrappage programme for owners of vehicles meeting Euro 3 emissions standards and below, registered before 2006, offering up to €8,000 to owners who order a new #ford this year.

In the U.K., a new Ford car and #van scrappage scheme offers customers incentives of up to £7,000 to trade-in any vehicle registered up to and including 31st December 2009 (pre Euro 5) against a selection of latest generation Euro 6 petrol and diesel models. #ford vehicles today are the company’s cleanest ever. The multi-award winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine in the all-new #ford Fiesta delivers 97 g/km CO2.

Ford earlier this year announced a $4.5 billion investment in electrified vehicles by 2020, with 13 new global vehicles coming in the next five years. This includes an all-new fully electric small SUV, engineered to deliver an estimated range of at least 480 kilometres (300 miles) for Europe and other regions of the world.

Ford also has launched a multi-million pound project designed to help improve air quality in London; providing 20 plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) Transits to a range of commercial fleets across the city, to explore how such vans can contribute to cleaner air targets while boosting productivity for operators in urban conditions.

A new joint-project with Deutsche Post DHL Group and StreetScooter in Germany will produce more than 2,500 pure electric delivery vans by the end of 2018, making it the largest manufacturer of e-vans in Europe.

Ford is proud of all of accomplishments made in its sustainability journey over the last two decades, but it’s not over – there is still much more work to be done.

“We’ve come a long, long way and we’ve got a long way to go,” said Bill #ford in the film. “We believe we have an obligation to leave this world better than we found it.”

To read the full report, visit sustainability.ford.com

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* Based on 12,000 kilometres per year with 118 g/km CO2 https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehicles/cars_en

** https://www.bdew.de/internet.nsf/id/6FE5E98B43647E00C1257C0F003314E5/$file/708-2_Beiblatt_zu%20BDEW-Charts%20Stromverbrauch%20im%20Haushalt_2013-10-23.pdf

Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of #ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through #ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. #ford employs approximately 203,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding #ford, its products and Ford
Motor Credit Company, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.​​