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Genuine
environmental
work at Ford
The
market increases its demands for environmentally
adapted products and one of the greatest challenges
facing the automobile industry is to deliver vehicles
that satisfy those demands. Ford considers environmental
issues in its production, from the choice of materials
to the day the car is disassembled to allow use
of components in the manufacture of new cars. All
of the company's production plants are certified
in accordance with ISO 14001. This was achieved
in 1998 and Ford was the first car manufacturer
to obtain this degree of certification. The company
conducts comparable processes for its suppliers
and is the car company that delivers the most vehicles
powered by alternative fuels to the world's consumers.
The process has just begun in the distribution system
and GreenZone is the most exciting project with
respect to the total environmental adaptation of
a car dealership.
"We
have around 20,000 retail dealerships around the
world and we will learn a great deal from GreenZone,
e.g. with respect to energy and water management
as well as the unique environmental work conducted
by our dealer in Umeå," says Peter Chadwick, information
manager at Ford Sweden.
"Carstedts
record in environmental work is impressive. We work
actively with environmental issues within the company.
Since 1995 we have been involved in a major ethanol
project as well as other environmental projects.
In our new facility we have succeeded in combining
both function and work environment that is without
precedent," comments Ola Borgernäs, managing director
of Carstedts in Umeå.
Carstedts
have closed systems for handling liquids and has
introduced "the environmental plug" to replace the
traditional oil plug. The new plug makes it possible
to change motor oil without any physical contact
with it.
Source-sorting
is done in the workplace so that each fraction goes
where it belongs right away. Furthermore, the hydraulic
car lifts have vegetable oil and the stock shelves
are made of wood. "We are well aware of the fact
that the transportation sector is a serious environmental
problem and we've made up our minds. We want to
be part of the solution," concludes Borgernäs.
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