We understand environmental protection as a holistic approach covering the whole life-cycle from the development until the recycling of the vehicle. We consider environmental aspects of products and processes already in product development. 

Our product development processes are part of our environmental management system according to ISO 14001. The worldwide Design for Environment is coordinated by a central development function. With a worldwide network of environmental experts and the coherent integration of tasks into our development processes we ensure to meet our environmental targets.

Examples for tangible measures in Design for Environment are listed below:

• We avoid the use of substances of concern in our materials
• We mark plastic parts to enable a separate treatment in recycling
• We develop recycling concepts for our products and reapply recycled materials in our products
• We remanufacture used brake callipers
• We reduce the weight of our products and thereby contribute to a reduction of fuel consumption
• We develop innovative functions to recuperate braking energy, to reduce fuel consumption and emissions
• We conduct life-cycle-assessments (LCA) at early stages of the development process to analyse and evaluate environmental impacts of our products

Last but not least it is also the features and functions of our products which contribute to environmental protection:

• The durability of our products preserves resources
• Many of our technologies contribute to the continuous reduction of fuel consumption and emissions like  in CO₂ emission in modern vehicles - such as electronic control units for motors and transmission systems, brake calipers in aluminium lightweight construction and the future-oriented technology of hybrid drive technology
• And when our powerful safety systems prevent accidents, not only human life is saved, but it is also a contribution to environmental protection

The systematic consideration of environmental aspects results in internal standards, which are binding for production as well as product development. The implementation of the internal standard for design for environment is a precondition for the internal release of a part. Our suppliers have to comply with our “design for environment for supplies” standard, which are part of the delivery specifications.