For Immediate Release: May 8, 2003
For More Information Contact: Steve Hellem, SP, (202) 530-0096
General Motors and Automobile Suppliers Announce New Partnership for the Environment Which
Provides Value To The Auto Supply Chain
DETROIT, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Corporation (GM),
automobile suppliers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today
announced an innovative partnership to increase the business performance of
companies in the automobile industry while reducing environmental impacts.
The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) is a new forum
for sharing environmental best practices throughout the automotive industry
supply chain, especially for the benefit of the smaller, lower-tier companies
in the industry," said Rebecca Spearot, Director, Environmental
Management, Lear Corporation and SP's first Chair of the Board. She
continued, "SP will enable automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers to
actively engage all levels of their supply chains in development of common
sense approaches to reducing environmental impacts." She concluded,
"Through the Partnership, suppliers will be able to continuously improve
products and processes, increase energy efficiency, eliminate wastes, identify
cost-saving opportunities, and optimize resources and technologies."
"GM is committed to environmental excellence and to cooperating
with and supporting our supply chain," said Pat Beattie, Director,
Environmental Services, GM. "While working with EPA on a pilot
project initiated with our Saturn division, we identified real opportunities to
improve both the environment and the competitiveness of companies in our supply
chain," she said. "The Suppliers Partnership for the
Environment grew out of that experience. This organization is committed
to providing quantifiable value to the automobile supply chain and we are
pleased to be a leader in this effort," Beattie said.
SP will provide value to its members by: providing a forum for companies
to work together to share "best practices" through task forces and
work groups to address specific issues; providing facility-specific technical
assistance on energy and materials use optimization and other issues;
identifying and addressing externally driven environmental impacts; and
retaining the costs savings realized through SP activities.
"The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment establishes a forum
where the Environmental Protection Agency and the automobile supply industry
can work together to achieve common goals of environmental performance,"
said Stephen L. Johnson, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of
Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances. Johnson continued,
"Through pollution prevention, smarter decisions can be implemented throughout
the automobile manufacturing process that will benefit both the environment and a company's
bottom line. We welcome this effort."
"As a member-driven organization, SP is addressing several
different issues important to maintaining a productive and green supply chain
including energy and materials use optimization, training, education, technical
assistance, sustainability and transactional processes," stated Spearot.
"SP is open to all automotive companies and the members are to be
commended for the proactive environmental supply chain management efforts that
have led to the creation of SP," concluded Spearot.
The Suppliers Partnership's members include: Ashland Inc.; B.A.E.
Industries; Delphi Corporation; Detroit Chassis LLC; Federal-Mogul Corporation;
Freudenberg-NOK; General Motors Corporation; Haas TCM; Johnson Controls, Inc.;
Lear Corporation; Motorola, Inc.; NSK Corporation; Petoskey Plastics, Inc.; and
Visteon Corporation.
SOURCE: Suppliers Partnership for the Environment 05/08/2003 / CONTACT:
Steve Hellem, Suppliers Partnership for the Environment, +1-202-530-0096