GM aims to reduce carbon footprint

General Motors is joining the voluntary US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay Partnership, which will drive benchmarking of fuel consumption and reduction of emissions by its freight shippers and carriers with the goal of further shrinking the company’s carbon footprint.

“Our environmental impact extends from our supply chain to the use of our products,” said Mike Robinson, vice-president of Sustainability and Global Regulatory Affairs. “This EPA SmartWay Partnership provides a useful tool to help our company and carriers – who already share our environmental commitment – to reduce emissions and save fuel and money. It's a significant win-win situation."

GM will collect its shipping activity data, including which carriers the company uses to ship freight, the number of miles traveled and freight weight. Combining this information with carrier data, including equipment and service type, GM and its SmartWay partner carriers can develop plans to further reduce carbon emissions.

GM will encourage its logistics carriers that are not part of the SmartWay partnership to become members and take advantage of tips and training to help save fuel and money, and reduce air pollution and emissions that contribute to climate change. According to the EPA, 28 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are produced by the transportation sector. Of that percentage, approximately 30 percent is freight related.

“By joining SmartWay, GM is on the road to improve the environmental performance of goods movement and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain," said Christopher Grundler, director for EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality.

In its 2012 Sustainability Report, GM identified its supply chain as one of 10 material issues facing the company with respect to its economic, environmental and social impacts. In 2012, the company engaged its logistics suppliers to make the most of routing, reducing greenhouse gases by 62,000 tons. This is the equivalent of the CO2 emissions from the annual electricity use of 8,530 homes