Environment Concerns of Harley-Davidson - The King of the Highway Cruising Bikes!

Emission off-setted Harley Owners Group Tour of Sri Lanka

Harley-Davidson, the king of the highway cruising bikes, is the only company to survive the great depression. Founded in 1903, they are the pioneers in heavy weight motor cycles. All of their bikes has bigger engines, raising the concerns it has on environment. However, they have the utmost aim and objective about the environment to think differently to preserve and renew for long term success. Their manufacturing facilities always aspire to reach zero landfill status.

Manufacturing sites  of Harley Davidson are continually working to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing and other operations, including on-going efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling and reduce water use and energy consumption.   Further, the manufacturing sites establish annual targets for energy consumption and seek year over year improvement.   

Harley-Davidson Sustainability: Preserve and Renew the Freedom to Ride

Everyone should be passionate about future generations of riders by sharing the Harley Davidson experiences that can be enjoyed.  The purpose is clear; that is to fulfil dreams of personal freedom.  Their sustainability vision is simple.;  present generation preserve and renew the freedom to ride.

Waste reduction and recycling plays a unique part in the field of environment. The wastes,  that released from a cement manufacturing company are used as fuel in the kilns and the remaining ash is incorporated in to the cement.  The Power train operations reduced waste and diverted more of that waste from landfill through both new recycle and re-use streams resulting in a waste to land fill decreasing to the percentage of 5.9%.

The power train plant could reduce the amount of trash sent to land fill by 24% through increased recycling.  A new container system that gives clear messaging where common items should go was introduced.  As a result , the amount of recycling increased to nearly 10,000 pounds in 2012, with the average amount of mixed recyclables increasing from around 680 lbs per month at the beginning of the year to an average of 800 lbs per month by the end of the year.  In the same way, approximately four tons of compostable material from the cafeteria is sent to an Urban Farm.  Harley-Davidson Museum’s restaurant began purchasing locally grown produce from the farm.

Usage of water is also another critical factor in relation to the environment.  They reduced the water intake by 1,166,000 gallons.  The water reductions were the result of the full implementation of a new powder coat system.  The new system uses far less water, pulling  water only when needed it versus using a continuous flow of water, which spilled unused water down the drain.  It also uses sensors that automatically take water in as needed and shut off when unused.

Improving Social Impact

Harley Davidson U.S. manufacturing sites establish annual targets for energy consumption and seek year over year improvement.  The completion of a new powder coat line that uses residual heat from baking ovens to warm the water for the power coat washers has increased energy efficiency in the site.  The conversion of the power coat operation from two lies to the new single system has reduced natural gas consumption by 32%.  In addition, it installed a new chilled water system, and the facility has been exclusively repair compressed air leaks throughout the entire plant.

Those sites successfully shed power during the summer to conserve electricity.  HVAC units were shut down on peak demand days which conserved electricity during the summer heat. Power shedding of electricity was 0.5 Mkw for six hours. This was done on six different days and supported demand management efforts of the local utility.  In addition, the plant ovens were shut down during non production times (weekends and holidays).  As a result, they saved natural gas consumption and reduction by 6.5%.

Harley Davidson provided some general tips to the employees and contractors on sites; to maintain vehicles properly, avoid spilling gasoline, refrain from fuelling when pump shuts off automatically , refuel vehicles after dark, conserve energy, not to over cool homes, turn off lights and appliances when not using. 

Source : Harley-Davidson Sustainability Strategy Report 2012

Emission off-setted 2000km Harley Owners Group Tour of Sri Lanka

On Friday, August 08, 2014, the first emission off-setted Sri Lankan tour of the Harley Davidson Owners began. The Carbon Credit Company officials took the odometer reading. These 14 bikers will be able to ride up to 2000 km as emission free.  This historic event was powered by JLanka Technologies, by offsetting the carbon foot print created by the bikers, with the carbon credit three of their customers had saved. 

Corporate Environmental Responsibility – Another Step to Save the Earth

Companies green washing themselves has become the latest trend in the corporate world.  New buildings of Toyota and Bank of America,  Gold-certified  by the US Green Building Council, and Nike aiming to be carbon neutral are some of the few examples of this green washing. Known as the Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER), it is a branch of the popular concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. Instead of aiming to build a better society and doing their part for the society in large, companies mainly concentrates on minimizing the damage to the environment and protecting it.

Components of CER

There are few main components to make a CER policy of a company effective. Including, environmental commitment and awareness, stakeholder engagement, measuring, reporting and auditing, transparency, commitment to continuous improvement and going beyond compliance.  According to most environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGO),  fundamental difference in expected environmental performance for companies of different ownership structures and size is minimal, as the need for corporate environmental responsibility is independent of company structure or size.

Driving forces behind CER

There are several driving forces behind the evolution of CER; consumer activism, shareholder and investor pressure, and competitive advantage are a few. As a result of increased discussions on human rights, Consumers and employees, nowadays, are attracted more towards the companies with a green vision, making it one of the main reasons for them to focus more on their responsibility towards the environment. Unlike in the past, the shareholders now,  request companies on disclosure of  environmental risk, recognizing that environmental risk often translates into financial risk. Investors hesitate to lend money to environmentally doubtful projects, for example, which might bring huge clean-up costs and damage to the reputation.  Corporations are now recognizing the potential competitive advantage to be gained by responding to stakeholder expectations for environmental performance of the company as a whole, or of its products individually.

Blue Sky Award - to Apply New Technologies for Renewable Energy Utilization

Going with this concept of Environment Responsibility, Shenzhen International Technology Promotion Center for Sustainable Development with the help of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Boao Forum for Asia and CRES  awards “Bluesky Award - Evaluation of Global Top Investment Scenarios to Apply New Technologies for Renewable Energy Utilization” to encourage companies to protect the environment. This international contest aims to demonstrate award-winning technology success stories to guide large-scale renewable energy applications in China and other developing countries to mitigate the effects of the supply shortage of conventional energy and greenhouse gas effects on the global climate. Since 2005, four sessions have been held, 38 technologies have been granted the BlueSky Award among numerous competitors from Germany, the United States, Canada, Russia, Belarus, Japan, Australia, Brazil, India, the Philippines and China.

Trina Solar wins the award

Trina Solar, one of the principal companies affiliated to JLanka Technologies and a global leader in photovoltaic ("PV") modules, solutions, and services, received the Blue Sky Award 2014 for Global Top Investment Scenarios to Apply New Technologies for Renewable Energy Utilization for its high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells and Honey Ultra modules, proving once again to the world that they are the true pioneers in the industry. Utilizing its own crystalline silicon solar cells, Trina Solar's Honey Ultra high efficiency crystalline silicon solar module has set three world records in the last four years.