SUBARU | Ecology | Regional Activities

Since becoming the first North American automotive manufacturer to achieve zero landfill in 2004, SIA’s many waste reduction, recycling and reuse efforts have gained attention locally, state-wide and nationally. Most recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented SIA with the 2007 WasteWise Gold Achievement Award at their annual conference that was held in Washington DC in November.

The award recognizes SIA as 2007’s top achiever for the Industrial Material Recycling category in the EPA’s WasteWise program, highlighting our efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle waste materials related to manufacturing processes.

As a WasteWise partner since 2004, SIA realizes the potential environmental impact of our manufacturing process and works very hard to reduce it. Associates work daily to apply the
concept of Kaizen to our environmental initiatives, continually improving and enhancing our green practices. Along with constant development of new ways to practice the "Three R’s," we continually search to partner with other green companies to ensure beneficial uses or recycling outlets for waste materials.

In 2006, SIA prevented 3,250 tons of packaging materials from being disposed of through re-use activities and recycled over 13,000 tons of materials. SIA recycled 99.6% of our production waste last year.

More About the EPA WasteWise Program:

WasteWise is a voluntary, EPA program through which member organizations eliminate costly municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes to benefit the environment. It has 1,603 partners spanning more than 54 industry sectors. Partners include large corporations, small and medium-sized businesses, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, state and local governments, tribes, and other institutions.

SIA Plays Part in Achieving National Recycling Goal:

As a leader in waste management initiatives, the EPA has set a national goal to reach a 35 percent national recycling rate by 2008. Through WasteWise, companies like SIA have become EPA partners to do their part in waste prevention and recycling on a national scale.