History

Background

In 2003, Crystal Filtration was asked by General Motors to help GM obtain the country’s first landfill-free plant. The plant chosen was General Motors Flint Engine South, which utilizes filters supplied by Crystal Filtration to clean and process coolant liquids used in its manufacturing operations. After two years, GM Flint Engine South became the first landfill-free automotive facility in North America.
Shortly thereafter, Crystal Filtration provided the same services to GM’s Ypsilanti Transmission Operations (which has since been closed) and Toledo Transmission Operations, which were the second and third GM plants to achieve their landfill-free status. Crystal Filtration also assisted General Motors in helping the company achieve landfill-free status in plants outside the Detroit area.
General Motors asked Crystal Filtration to open a Detroit facility to assist other automotive facilities in becoming landfill-free. To meet its customers’ needs in the automotive industry, Crystal Filtration purchased a 45,000 square foot building in Detroit and all necessary equipment to open a new company, Waste-Free, LLC, which has since been relocated to Warren, Michigan. The new Waste Free, LLC facility currently receives rolls of dirty filter media from a variety of engine and transmission facilities within the Big Three. Rolls of filter media have successfully been tested in preparation to enable more facilities in becoming landfill-free.