Page 458 - Solid Waste Analysis and Minimization a Systems Approach

436 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL MACHINERY INCLUDING AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING

industry in the Asian countries such as Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia
is bright and promising because of the ASEAN free-trade area under which the export
tariffs are very low.
On a global scale, the assets of the top 10 automotive corporations accounts for
28 percent of the assets of the world’s top 50 companies, 29 percent of their employ-
ment, and 30 percent of their total sales. In the year 2006, the United States sold
around 16 million new automobiles; Western Europe sold around 15 million, while
China and India sold 4 million and 1 million, respectively. Latin America, Middle
East, Eastern Europe, China, Malaysia, and other South-Asian nations are now emerg-
ing as the dominant markets of the automotive industry. Most of the major automotive
players are shifting their production facilities in these emerging markets with the main
purpose of gaining better access and reduction in their production costs. There is an
estimation that the automotive markets in South America and Asia will witness a boom
in the near future. The various factors such as cheap financing and price discounts, ris-
ing income levels, and infrastructure developments will assist in the growth and devel-
opment of the automotive sector in the majority of Asian nations.
Due to rising pressures on cost and quality, computer-aided designing and computer-
aided manufacturing tools are increasingly adopted by the automotive companies so as
to save months of time in designing and improving the quality of automobiles. The
other technologies being used by the automotive industry are rapid prototyping, virtual
reality, on-board systems, global positioning systems, and display maps. Most of the
automotive manufacturers are now resorting to environment-friendly–fuel vehicles like
electric, fuel cell, and hybrid cars.
The future seems encouraging for this industry in terms of the expected surge in
global demand and upsurge in investments. Several trends such as overcapacity in
developed markets, globalization, technology advances, regulation and environmental
consideration, and market fragmentation and product proliferation will result in the
rapid growth of this sector.

34.2 Waste Management Goals

and Opportunities

The majority of solid waste generated by this sector are paper and plastics. Table 34.1
displays the composition breakdown based on survey results.
As shown in the table, the recycling rate for this sector is approximately 30 percent.
As derived from the solid waste evaluation model discussed in Chap. 12, the equation
that estimates the annual waste generation per year per employee for this sector can
be calculated from the following:

Tons of solid waste generated per year = 2.97 × number of employees − 1.73
× solid waste disposal cost per ton
− 56.22 if the company is ISO 140001 certified
+ 412.8