DETROIT—Ford Motor Co. plans to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills for each vehicle that it builds by 41 percent as part of a five-year plan through 2016. Ford will reduce the waste generated per vehicle from 22.7 pounds in 2011 to 13.4 pounds.

PITTSBURGH—Safety equipment manufacturer MSA has created a new line of hard hats made from a green plastic sourced entirely from sugarcane.

CLAYTON, NC—PCX Corp., a manufacturer of electrical power systems, has successfully commissioned a 500-kilowatt rooftop photovoltaic system at its assembly plant here.

CHATTANOOGA, TN—Volkswagen’s assembly plant here is now getting as much as 9.5 megawatts of electricity from a massive solar panel installation.

Looking back on the campaign, it was refreshing to hear candidates from both parties tout the importance of U.S. manufacturing.

YORII, Japan—Honda has developed a more ecological painting technology that moves from a four-coat, three-bake process to a three-coat, two-bake water-based process.

BOWLING GREEN, KY—GM’s Corvette assembly plant here is one of 54 facilities to meet a voluntary energy-reduction challenge set by the Environmental Protection Agency, cutting its energy intensity by 26 percent in less than one year.

CHANGWON, South Korea—GM will add a three-megawatt solar installation on the roof of its assembly plant here. The array will cut carbon emissions at the plant by 2,400 metric tons a year.

With the election over and the economy picking up steam, manufacturers are poised to reinvest in their assembly plants.

DEARBORN, MI—The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $292,000 to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) to create university-based programs that will help local manufacturers conserve energy.