Saturn's Environmental Initiatives

• Strategic landscaping makes the facility nearly invisible from nearby Highway 31. Visual impacts of the facility were minimized by consideration of building design and placement; building colors were chosen to blend in with the surroundings, and excavated soils were used in mounds to screen the site.
  

• Farming activities on the site have been continued through construction to current operations.
  

• During construction, Saturn created an on-site nursery for uprooted trees. Hundreds of trees were saved in the on-site arboretum and later transplanted for use in landscaping around the office complex and nearby Saturn facilities.
  

• Saturn designed a new way to construct sewer pipelines across creeks. Similar designs have since been adopted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
  

• On-site ponds were engineered to serve multiple uses, such as controlling storm water, providing fire protection water, and providing areas for wildlife.
  

• Over a dozen blue bird houses were built on site, offering refuge for some of Saturn's feathered "neighbors."
  

Numerous environmental opportunities were recognized in the original design of Saturn's manufacturing buildings, processes, and products:

• Specially-designed "hazardous materials docks" were installed in loading/unloading areas of the manufacturing/assembly complex to contain potentially "spillable" materials.

• Saturn installed various environmental pollution control equipment, including the most advanced air pollution control system in the U.S. for emissions associated with painting cars. Other equipment, such as balers, make some materials more amenable to recycling.
  
  
• The lost foam casting process, used for manufacturing several engine and transmission parts, significantly reduces the amount of contaminated waste sand generated in the molding process; this waste sand is recycled.
  

Material selection was also influenced by environmental concerns. Water-based paints, sealers, and adhesives were used that result in less emissions to the air, as well as using polymers in the manufacture of the interior and exterior of the vehicle that can be reground and reused.

Recognition Awards:

In recognition of its efforts to reduce the manufacturing/assembly facility's effect on the environment and the community, Saturn has received many local, state and national awards. For example, the U.S. Department of Interior presented Saturn with its 1989 "Take Pride in America" national award for outstanding contributions to protecting and enhancing public resources. Saturn was also honored as 1987 "Industrial Conservationist of the Year" by the Tennessee Conservation League, and recognized with the 1988 & 1997 "Overall Environmental Excellence" award by the Tennessee Association of Business.

Saturn Designs for the Environment:
Saturn's commitment to protect and preserve the environment has taken the next logical step: from design and construction of the manufacturing/assembly facility into an effort Saturn calls "Designs for the Environment." This effort involves the management of environmental issues throughout to product life cycle, from design through post-consumer disposal of its products.

To address the design stage of the product life cycle, vehicle design guidelines were established which provide input to Saturn's product development teams concerning material selection and design for disassembly.

In the manufacturing stage, Saturn concentrates its efforts on both reprocessing and recycling waste materials. In 1997, Saturn reprocessed or recycled 55,013 tons of waste material. (Steel and other ferrous metals, aluminum and other non-ferrous materials = 48,215 tons; plastics and polymers = 751 tons; foundry sand = 3,184 tons; office paper, corrugated cardboard, wood = 2,217 tons, paint-related = 348 tons, and antifreeze and oil = 298 tons.) Total tons recycled/reprocessed 1992 - 97= 316,978. Yearly average 1992 - 97 = 52,830.

Recognizing that action must be supplemented by education, Saturn has formed partnerships with the community to ensure that the environment is preserved for future generations.

Citizen's Environmental Council
Saturn established the Citizen's Environmental Council in Spring Hill, TN comprised of Saturn and community representatives who meet to share information on various environmental issues and activities.

Harpeth River Project (G.R.E.E.N.)
As part of the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (G.R.E.E.N.), Saturn initiated and continues to support the Harpeth River Environmental Education Project in the Williamson county school system in Tennessee. The project adopted the Harpeth River for study by all the schools in the county providing students the opportunity to learn about protection and preservation of their environment.

EPA / University of Tennessee LCA Project
Saturn is working in a cooperative effort with the University of Tennessee's Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the project proposal to demonstrate the use of Life Cycle Assessment for the automobile industry. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool which helps identify what impact a decision may have on the environment by taking the entire life cycle of the product into account. By employing such tools, Saturn ensures its decisions are in keeping with its values and philosophy.

The Nature Conservancy
Saturn entered a partnership in 1994 with The Nature Conservancy (TNQ to assist that group in its continuing efforts to protect endangered natural areas throughout the U.S. and the world. Saturn supports TNC through corporate sponsorship as well as volunteer and marketing efforts. Through private efforts over forty years, TNC has helped preserve the natural habitats vital to maintaining plant, animal and natural communities on our planet.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) has created a nationwide network of biking and hiking trails by converting abandoned rail corridors into public access trails. Saturn has teamed with the RTC to publish a Midwest guide highlighting the many bicycling, walking and hiking trails in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, with a brief history of the trail area.

EPA's Green Lights Program
Partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Green Lights Program, Saturn is identifying and implementing energy-saving ideas through its facilities. The program is voluntary and focuses on installation of high-efficiency lighting to reduce plant power consumption which, in turn, reduces fuel requirements and the amount of greenhouses gasses produced from the burning of fuel.