GM is sick of taking out the trash. In effort to go green and save some money at the same time, GM said half of its plants worldwide will be landfill-free by 2010.

Achieving landfill-free status requires a plant to recycle nearly all of its production waste. GM said forty three of its plants already qualify, meaning they are about halfway to their 2010 goal. Materials like aluminum, cardboard, oil, and even steel drums are sent back into the plants or to recyclers for another go-around, while other waste goes to generating power.

Beyond reducing waste and potential carbon emissions for all this scrimping and scrounging, GM said it makes a good deal of money (always nice to hear these days). It recovers $1 billion annually in material costs by reusing anything it can, and brings in another $16 million by selling the rest.