CASE STUDY No. 9634
KEY WORDS PLASTIC PLUGS, CAPS, CLOSURES; REUSE
Chrysler Corporation
Belvidere Assembly Plant
3000 Chrysler Drive
Belvidere, IL 61008-6094
Contact: Rick Arwood, Recycle Coordinator. Tel: 815-547-2145. Fax: 815-547-2339.
Robert L. Godare, Environmental Policy Director. Tel: 815-547-2130.
Summary
Plastic closures installed to prevent contaminants from entering auto components are recovered and reused, saving the company $130,000 a year in delivery and disposal costs.
Action
Chrysler Corporation has been implementing waste prevention programs since 1989, with a goal of reducing landfilling to zero by 2000. The Belvidere plant employs 3,700 assembly line workers to produce the Dodge Neon. When the waste stream was examined for opportunities to reduce cost, it was observed that the numerous protective closures inserted into components arriving from outside the plant possibly could be reused instead of discarded. To set up such a program the company had to persuade suppliers that (1) the closures (made of LDPE--low density polyethylene) really were reusable and (2) they could be returned in sufficient quantity and at the right time to enable reuse.
Collection of plastic closures occurs along the assembly line. They are removed and tossed into Gaylord-style cardboard boxes measuring 48 x 45 inches. Full boxes are removed to an area near the loading docks where closures are inspected for contamination and damage, and sorted by color. Seven vendors participate in the reuse program. Typically, they collect their closures once a month, back-hauling on the same trucks used for deliveries to Chrysler; thus, transpor-tation costs are avoided. Experience indicates that closures can be reused up to 10 times.
Payback
Chrysler reports it recovered the cost of establishing the reuse program in 6 months, by (1) reducing disposal costs and (2) receiving a credit against vendor freight charges for the value of plastic closures reused. The following table illustrates the second point:
Material Cost Per Number Returned Yearly Returned Item Per Car Savings
TOTAL $113,890.46
SAVINGS PER VEHICLE BUILT : $0.4269
Future Consideration
Chrysler and its vendors are discussing reducing the number of different colors of
closures where there is no particular reason to distinguish by color. Already the plant
has realized additional savings of $21,000 by switching to clear plastic for some
closures.