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A series of initiatives to recycle materials means that just over half of General Motors' 145 plants have now stopped sending waste to landfill sites, the world's second largest carmaker has announced.

General Motors, which employs more than 200,000 worldwide, uses paint sludge to make engine shipping containers and turns cardboard into car roof interiors, while one plant turns plastic caps and other plastic packaging into radiator covers for its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models.

The carmaker now has 76 landfill free sites, achieving a global operations commitment announced in 2008 to convert 50 per cent of its plants to landfill-free status by the end of 2010.

It has recycled or re-used 2.5 million tons of waste at its plants this year which would fill 6.8 million extended cab pick-up trucks that, if parked end-to-end, would stretch around the world.

It is estimated that General Motors has also eliminated 8.4 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere.

On average, 97 per cent of waste at the landfill-free sites is recycled or reused to make new car parts, while three per cent is incinerated to generate energy. General Motors has also made $2.5 billion since 2007 from selling waste, such as metal grindings and scraps, to companies like foundries for recycling.

'It's all about being creative, lean and rethinking traditional manufacturing processes,' said John Bradburn, manager of GM's waste-reduction efforts. 'When you think of what it would take for a family of four to not produce any trash for a year, that's quite a task. This is 76 sites around the world and about 70,000 employees committed to the cause.'

All General Motors' plants track their waste and produce monthly reports on what waste they are creating, what they are recycling and what they cannot reuse. In aggregate, General Motors' facilities already recycle 90 per cent of their waste and are investigating ways to find new uses for the ten per cent that currently reaches landfill.

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