GM Canada Facilities Fight Climate Change

GM is committed to conserving resources and recycling materials at every stage of the product life cycle, and one of our sustainability goals is to achieve carbon neutrality in global products and operations by 2040.

We’re highlighting GM Canada’s success in waste reduction and some of the innovative projects used at our facilities to curb emissions.

One of GM Canada’s newest projects is the cogeneration facility at St. Catharines Propulsion Plant, which went online in late 2020. The project is Ontario’s first complete renewable landfill gas industrial cogeneration system, delivering landfill gas to generate electricity and thermal energy to power and heat the facility.

The system cuts St. Catharines’ greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 70%. What’s more, it creates a double win for the environment by preventing landfill gas from being emitted as methane or flared to the environment, and purposefully reuses it.

Sustainability Highlights

St. Catharines Propulsion Plant

  • Over 98% of waste materials recycled or re-used
  • 72% reduction in water use since 2010
  • Innovative cooling system using canal water creates annual energy savings of 8,600 mwh, which represents roughly 750 homes’ worth of electricity use for a year

Oshawa Assembly

  • In 2021, Oshawa Assembly recycled approximately 40,000kg of Powder Prime from the Paint Shop
  • When the plant was retooled for the relaunch of pickup truck production, 15,000 metric tonnes of equipment and metal from the previous site operations were recycled – this is roughly the weight of 5,884 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2s

CAMI Assembly

  • Earned Natural Resources Canada’s ENERGY STAR for Industry Certification in 2021, which signifies that the facility performs in the top quartile of similar facilities in Canada and the U.S. for energy efficiency
  • Over 98% of waste materials recycled or re-used 
  • In 2021, CAMI ranked highest out of all GM manufacturing facilities for Wildlife Habitat Council Conservation Certification

Parts Distribution Centres (PDCs)

  • PDCs are striving for a 90% waste diversion rate
  • In 2021 Woodstock PDC enabled recycling of 41,000 lbs of LDPE plastic which is enough to make 11,270 square feet of composite decking which is roughly the size of 2.4 NBA-sized basketball courts

Customer Care and Aftersales (CCA)

  • In 2021, Oshawa CCA’s overall diversion rate was greater than 98%
  • Converting sodium lightbulbs to LED lights in the Oshawa stamping plant saved 778 mwh of energy, which is roughly equivalent to saving 447 barrels of oil

Vehicle Sales Service and Marketing (VSSM)

  • VSSM created an initiative to switch vehicle marketing brochures from paper to digital
  • In 2021, GM Canada issued around 2,000 kg of paper marketing magazines/brochures, compared to 141,000 kg in 2016 – this 98% reduction is roughly equivalent to saving 3 tractor-trailers worth of paper