Ford Motor Company Reducing Hazardous Waste Disposal Costs

Ford Motor Company is a major manufacturer of cars and trucks, and a provider of automotive financial services. In 2003, the company sold over six million vehicles and employed more than 300,000 people worldwide. Since 1996, Ford has used ISO 14001 as the framework for managing environmental issues, and has achieved certification for its manufacturing facilities and product development function. The company also requires its main suppliers to achieve ISO 14001 certification as a prerequisite for consideration for future business.

The engine plant at Ford’s U.K. site in Dagenham generates approximately 1,600 tons/year of “grinding sludge” containing metal fines, heavy oils, emulsion coolants and carbonized oil. The sludge is produced from the grinding of metal parts, through the finishing and polishing processes. Due to the implementation of the Waste Acceptance Criteria, this hazardous waste sludge will no longer be accepted in landfills. Faced with the prospect of having to send the waste for expensive incineration, Ford worked closely with its facilities management contractor, Hamton Environmental, to find an alternative means of dealing with the sludge.

Hamton Environmental developed the following method of waste sludge disposal. A press was designed which removes the emulsion and heavy oils from the sludge and produces a solid