Once totaling more than 500 metric tons each year, waste from 11 cafeterias at Honda of America Mfg., Inc. is one of the final frontiers of waste reduction. In March 2010, four of the largest cafeterias began capturing organic waste for composting and using washable dishware to help eliminate use of disposable food items that cannot be recycled. Once fully implemented in early 2011, Honda will separate all cafeteria waste for composting, recycling and energy recovery. No cafeteria waste will go to landfills.

Honda's engine and transmission plants in Ohio have found ways to reuse virtually all sand left over from aluminum and ferrous casting operations. These materials are recycled for use as mulch and topsoil in local gardens, and as an ingredient in concrete products. Both plants send no waste to landfills from their manufacturing operations.

All offal — steel scrap left over from auto plant stamping operations — has been recycled over the years. Some is transported to the Anna Engine Plant for casting into engine and drivetrain components, and the rest goes to steel recycling facilities.

In a new initiative, the Marysville Auto Plant is reducing the size of steel sheets used to form automobile body parts. Minimizing the generation of steel scrap reduces the environmental impact of material recycling — moving it up the waste hierarchy closer to zero waste. This initiative has been so successful in Ohio that Honda is implementing it throughout North America and other plants around the world.