SP Q4 Membership Meeting Held at Honda

SP’s 4th quarterly membership meeting of 2024 was held on October 23-24 at the Honda Heritage Center in Marysville, Ohio bringing together SP member representatives from across the automotive value chain.

The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) provides a forum for global vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers to work together toward a shared vision of an automotive industry with positive environmental impact.  SP’s quarterly membership meetings provide an opportunity for members to connect and share environmental sustainability best practices and strategies with industry peers, learn about emerging issues impacting the environment and their business operations, and identify new opportunities for collaborative action.

October 23 – Pre-Meeting Workshop

Sustainability Leadership Strategies Workshop. In this facilitated workshop session teams of automaker and supplier members worked together on a case study of conducting a materiality assessment from an automotive supplier perspective.

Workshop participants worked through the process outlined in a Net Impact Undergrad at the University of Michigan x General Motors Materiality Assessment Guidebook developed by University of Michigan students in collaboration with General Motors. Special thanks to Grace Sheaffer and Juliette Beals for their work on this guidebook which will be shared by SP with other automotive suppliers as a resource to support companies in conducting a materiality assessment.

October 24 — Membership Meeting

On October 24, the Q4 SP membership meeting opened with comments from Kevin Butt, Toyota Motor and Chair of SP’s Board of Directors. Josh Reffner, Director of Procurement & Supply Chain Operations, Honda then welcomed attendees to the Honda Heritage Center and shared background on Honda’s Triple Zero ambition.

The meeting included presentations from a range of speakers regarding environmental sustainability trends, best practices and opportunities, including:

  • Mary Kate Francis (Trio) previewed the new Transform Auto renewable energy supply chain program, which soft launched to SP member companies as the first users.
  • Mark Greenawalt (Aisin) presented an overview of Aisin’s sustainability and carbon neutrality goals and shared case studies on projects Aisin has implemented in the region to drive progress on carbon reduction.
  • Aurora Fernandez (RENEW Energy Partners) and Emmanuel Reymond (UGN) presented on process of building the business case for energy optimization project and shared a case study on an energy project the companies are working together to implement at one of UGN’s facilities.
  • Christelle Raphael and Stephanie Krueger (Altura Associates) and Khiem Ngo (American Honda Motor) presented on developing portfolio decarbonization programs and shared a case study on the Green Dealer program that Honda has developed to support its US dealer network in adopting sustainable practices.
  • Rashmi Tandon (EcoVadis) moderated a panel discussion on the Automotive Accelerate sector supply chain sustainability initiative that EcoVadis is facilitating, with panelists Michael McMahon (EcoVadis), Julie Lai (GM), Ana Maria Arce (Bridgestone) and Adrian Khouri (Tenneco).
  • Ryan Fogelman (Fire Rover) shared information on trends in fires at waste and recycling facilities related to lithium-ion batteries and technology solutions available to support early fire detection and response to minimize risk of such incidents.
  • Martin Chilcott (Manufacture 2030) shared information on product carbon footprint trends and facilitated an interactive group exercise on building a product decarbonization plan.
  • Kellen Mahoney (SP) closed the meeting with an overview of progress to date across various SP projects and activities, and emerging activities planned for the coming quarter and beyond.

During the meeting, SP’s 2024 Awards were presented recognizing environmental sustainability leadership within the automotive value chain. SP was pleased to recognize the awardees, including:

► 2024 SP Community Impact Award: Toyota Tsusho America – Princeton, Indiana Earth Day Initiative

► 2024 SP Creativity in Implementing Sustainable Practices Award: Lear Corporation – ReNewKnit Sustainable Composite Material for Automotive Interiors

► 2024 SP Demonstrating Environmental Innovation Award: Blackburn Energy, Inc. – Scope 3 Emission Reduction Project with General Motors and Moonstar Express

► 2024 SP Shining Star Award: Alex Phan of Magna International

► 2024 SP Shining Star Award: Daniel Esch of Ford Motor Company

► 2024 SP Shining Star Award: Sarah Tea of General Motors

The planned schedule of SP’s Quarterly Membership Meetings in 2025 includes:

  • Q1 2025 Membership Meeting: January 21 – 22, 2025, Detroit, Michigan
  • Q2 2025 Membership Meeting: April 24 – 25, 2025, Birmingham, Alabama
  • 2025 Innovation Summit: July 29 – 30, 2024, Detroit, Michigan
  • Q4 2025 Membership Meeting: October 28-29, 2025

Additional information on the membership meeting discussions, presentations and next steps is available to current SP member companies. Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about SP and opportunities to participate as a member.

© 2024 Suppliers Partnership for the Environment