Electrification isn’t the only paradigm shift transforming the automotive manufacturing landscape today. Sustainability is also forcing companies to rethink traditional production models. A new initiative involving some of the auto industry’s biggest players will affect the global supply chain.

ATLANTA—Porsche Cars North America Inc. (PCNA) has signed a contract with Cherry Street Energy LLC, the largest non-utility provider of solar energy in Georgia, to build and operate a solar power microgrid at the company’s headquarters and customer experience center here.

CASSINETTA, Italy—Whirlpool Corp.’s assembly plant has become a zero waste to landfill facility a year ahead of schedule, and it reduced its carbon emissions by 38 percent in just four years. The appliance manufacturer is aiming for carbon neutrality at all of its 54 sites around the world by 2030.

HANOVER, Germany—Continental is using polyester yarn made from recycled plastic bottles for high-volume production of tires.

HERNDON, VA—Volkswagen Group of America Inc. and Redwood Materials Inc. are collaborating to create a supply chain to recycle Volkswagen and Audi electric vehicle batteries in the United States.

According to expert materials scientist and author Julia Goldstein, here are five tips for accomplishing more sustainable, less wasteful manufacturing operations and products. 

KARLSRUHE, Germany—Chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste is both technically feasible and environmentally and financially promising, according to new research from Audi and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

CAMBRIDGE, MA and STANFORD, CA—A team of MIT and Stanford University researchers have developed a machine-learning-based system that increases the feasibility of manufacturing perovskite solar cells, which have an energy conversion efficiency of 18.5 percent.

Manufacturers around the world are increasingly concerned about their carbon footprint. One company that is doing something about it is General Motors. Last fall, the automaker announced that it plans to source 100 percent renewable energy to power its U.S. sites by 2025.

TAMIL NADU, India—Yanmar Engine Manufacturing India has installed a 1 megawatt peak solar photovoltaic generation system on the roof of its plant here to provide about 30 percent of the facility’s energy.