SPARTANBURG, South Carolina ― “Sustainability” and “going green” are buzzwords that get overused, but a growing number of companies are discovering that looking at their operations through a green lens can help them reduce costs and open doors to new opportunities.

BMW is already one of the leading players across industries and wants to increase its green cred even more.

The luxury carmaker’s North American plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is the production base of the hot-selling X Series sport-utility vehicles. Except the smallest X1, all the X cars are produced at the U.S. plant and 70 percent of them find their owners outside the country.

Earlier this year, BMW Group announced it will pour an additional $1 billion into the plant, making it the largest production site by 2016. 

Since 1994 when the plant started production, BMW has invested $6.3 billion in it.

The fresh funding will add 800 jobs, bringing its total staff to 8,000 people, and increase the plant’s capacity by 50 percent to some 450,000 vehicles. In addition, the plant will begin to produce a new, large crossover vehicle, the X7.

The new investment reflects BMW’s commitment not just to its second-largest market after China but also to the ongoing sustainable experiments done at the plant.

It was a rainy day when a group of international journalists visited the plant last week and the first stop of the tour bus was unexpectedly outdoor gas turbines. Sure enough, it was something for local officials to brag about.

Since 2003, BMW has collected and compressed methane gas found in the nearby Palmetto Landfill. By converting “trash to treasure,” the gas turbines power almost 50 percent of energy needs at the plant. 

The system, which features a 15-kilometer pipeline connected to the assembly plant, has reduced CO2 emissions by 92,000 tons per year and has saved the carmaker an estimated $5 million in energy costs per year.

The U.S. plant is the world’s first to use a water-born paint process that reduces the overall energy usage and paint shop footprint.

Painting cars is the most energy-consuming process at car-manufacturing plants. But BMW has adopted an integrated painting process that reduces the necessary steps and combines the top and primer coats only.

With the new adoption, the carmaker has reduced its energy use by 30 percent.

Another key investment is a fleet of over 100 material-handling vehicles that are powered by zero-emissions hydrogen. Hydrogen refueling is quicker than electric charging. BMW has been the first to adopt hydrogen in automotive applications. 

Cost saving is the crucial issue even at the carmaker and ideas about sustainable investments are still sometimes neglected, said Jury Witschnig, head of sustainability strategy.

But he made it clear that commitment by the top management is the key driving force. BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer, who was elevated to the top position in 2006, also served as president of the U.S. plant from 1997 and 2000.

“Everyone in the higher management positions believes sustainability helps us reduce energy and save costs,” he said. “But it is not just a profit-driven or cost-driven topic. It is necessity to survive the future.”

Witschnig wouldn’t reveal how much these efforts translate into sales gained or lost, saying the positive results are led by integrated efforts.

“But I can clearly say that all these measures and investments are seeing positive returns,” he said, declining to specify the numbers.

BMW is also encouraging its suppliers to join the sustainable efforts. The company proves and shows how changing the paint shop or assembly line helps it have returns.

“It’s much more difficult, but it’s much more profitable if on the whole we achieve better efficiency,” Witschnig said.

By Lee Ji-yoon, Korea Herald correspondent
(jylee@heraldcorp.com)