Ford Kentucky Truck Plant wins second annual Environmental Leadership Award.
Workers assemble 2008 Ford Super-Duty pickups at the Kentucky Truck Plant near Louisville, KY
A new paint purge process created at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant has proved to be both environmentally friendly and cost-effective. The paint team that developed the zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) solvent was the recipient of Ford’s Environmental Leadership Award, which recognizes the environmental and financial impact of projects and their potential for replication.
The solvent is used to purge atomizers of residual paint between different color applications. Prior to the new “green” solvent, the color change process generated more than 200,000 gallons of hazardous waste annually and required the use of more than 78 tons of VOC-containing solvents. Four of the 78 tons of VOC purge material were used in an unrecoverable process and were emitted annually.
By creating a water-borne purge solvent the paint team at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant were able to make quick color changes with no degradation in quality. However, there are further benefits with regard to sustainability and cost savings:
- The new solvent cuts 262,000 gallons of hazardous waste annually, as well as 78 tons of VOC usage and four tons of VOC emissions.
- Because the new water-borne waste is non-hazardous, it can be shipped to Waste Managements’ local landfill bioreactor, lopping off 31,000 miles per year of travel distance needed to dispose of this waste stream. This translates into 4,400 gallons of diesel fuel per year saved at $11,000 dollars and 16 tons of emissions.
- The new non-hazardous waste stream can be utilized to increase landfill space and increase recyclable gas generation.
- The process changeover cost nothing to implement and there has been no additional cost to maintain the new system.
- The Kentucky Truck Plant saved more than $325,000 in waste disposal and taxes during the 12 months after the conversion compared to the year prior to conversion.
The runners-up for the award include Lima Engine Plant in Ohio and Twin Cities Assembly Plant in Minnesota.
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Tags: eco-paint, environmental award, Ford Kentucky Truck Plant, manufacturing, sustainable resources, zero-VOC
