FORD'S SOLVENT RECYCLING HITS MAJOR MILESTONES

DEARBORN, Mich., July 28, 2004 -- A trend-setting paint-solvent recovery program developed by Ford Motor Company 20 years ago has reclaimed more than 38-million gallons of waste material since its inception.

Ford officials recently took delivery of the 50-millionth gallon of remanufactured solvent during ceremonies to commemorate the program's 20th anniversary and the start-up of F-Series production at Ford's Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn.

Introduced at Ford's Wixom (Mich.) assembly plant after a series of pilot programs beginning in 1984, the closed-loop recycling process pioneered by Ford is now in use at all of the company's 19 assembly plants in the U.S. and Canada and has been adopted by other automakers as well.

Developed with Gage Products Co., the program has helped Ford recover millions of gallons of paint solvent, reclaim more than 10.4 million gallons of recoverable solids with other commercial values and significantly reduce the cost of the company's assembly-plant paint operations.

Taking part in the "milestone" event at Ford were Andy Acho, Ford's worldwide director of Environmental Outreach and Strategy; Glen Logan, environmental engineering manager - Ford Vehicle Operations; James (Jay) L. Richardson II, Heritage Manager, responsible for redevelopment of Ford's Rouge complex; Bill Russo, director of manufacturing and engineering, Ford Vehicle Operations; Sandra Walsh, Ford Purchasing manager for paint, resin and lighting; Faith Wood, chief engineer, Ford Paint Operations, and Donald Dixon, president of Gage Products.

Acho notes that closed-loop recycling programs and other responsible environmental practices can result in significant cost savings.

Since 1990, Ford has been able to reduce the percentage of solid waste in its paint systems by 50 percent, according to Acho. He adds that Gage has remanufactured more than 25-million gallons of purge solvent and reclaimed more than three-million gallons or 15,000 tons of recoverable solids with other commercial values from Ford plants in North America alone.

"This year, Gage will reclaim more than 2.1-million gallons of paint-system waste material from our North American plants," Acho points out. "In the last 15 years, the program also has eliminated nearly 225-million pounds of hazardous landfill material and 450-million pounds of CO2 emissions that would have resulted if Ford's paint-system waste had been incinerated."

Ford's Richardson, considered to be the program's founder, first discussed plans for developing a closed-loop, sustainable manufacturing process for paint solvents with Gage's Donald Dixon in the early 1980's. A process engineering supervisor at Ford's Wixom Assembly Plant at the time, Richardson has spent nearly half of his 30-year Ford career in paint operations.

"Up until the late 1980s, the industry had simply purged paint solvents into paint-system spraybooths where it ended up evaporating or being sent to industrial waste treatment facilities," Richardson notes. "Gage was willing to talk with us about a closed-loop process that could benefit both Ford and Gage long before 'green manufacturing' processes became popular."

After investing more than $1-million in waste-recovering and distilling equipment, Gage launched its solvent-recovery program for Ford in the mid-1980's. Since that time, the company has invested an additional $4-million to improve and expand its closed-loop manufacturing processes.

Today, Gage collects Ford's used purge solvents and paint in tank trucks and transports them to its processing facilities in Ferndale, Michigan. The company then conducts a detailed analysis of the waste to help monitor and improve the efficiency of Ford's paint operations.

Solid waste contained in the liquid material then is removed for use in cement kilns as a clean-burning fuel that substitutes for pulverized coal. Gage distills and refines the remaining liquid into pure solvent. Finally the company mixes in specific amounts of "virgin" raw material to match Ford's original blend requirements and delivers the recycled solvent back to the originating assembly plant for reuse.

More than 30 North American automotive assembly plants now rely on Gage for the management of their paint-system waste materials, according to Gage's Dixon. Today, Gage's automotive customers throughout the world in addition to Ford include DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Jaguar, Nissan, Peugeot, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Richardson, who today is responsible for developing Ford's vision for sustainable manufacturing processes as part of the Rouge Redevelopment Project, notes that the auto industry faces major challenges in the area of closed-loop recycling. "To really develop sustainable solutions in the auto industry, all of our suppliers will need to look closely at their business models to determine what makes sense both financially and environmentally. Our program with Gage has been a success from both perspectives."

Dixon points out that last year alone, Gage recycled more than four-million gallons of paint-system waste material from assembly plants in North America. "We've saved the auto industry millions of dollars, while improving the environment at the same time," he notes. "Gage is dedicated to responsible resource management that results in long-term benefits for our environment as well as our customers."

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