Volvo's continued commitment to the environment

With an enviable dedication to environmental concerns, Volvo is continuing to do its level best to reduce the carbon footprint its cars are accountable for.

On a mission to achieve more than just lowering the CO2 emissions of its vehicles, the Swedish auto-maker addresses issues from the insides of its cars, out.

Health, resource utilization and the ecological consequences of its cars manufacture, lifespan and de-commissioning at the end of the product cycle are scrutinized with a fine-toothed comb so as to better plan for the future.

It will therefore come as no surprise to learn that all new Volvo's are 85% recyclable and 95% reusable, a figure that it had envisaged being a viable reality by 2015, a ball-park date when a European Commission study had suggested all car manufacturers should have employed the technology to counter how cars were implicated in climate change.

Effectively, this was achieved by Volvo in 2002, and goes some way in underlining its commitment to reducing environmental impact and the prioritizing it's accorded.

Recyclable materials such as steel, iron, aluminium and other composite metals are emphatically administered in Volvo production, whilst the catalytic converter is re-configured and sourced for new catalysts. What's more, the plastic that covers Volvo battery's are reincarnated as wheel arch liners in new models.

Lead, cadmium, mercury and chromium have been stripped – along with any other properties construed to be of harm to Volvo car buyers – from the material production process, with even the tanning procedure necessitated to create the seat leather having been replaced.

Furthermore, servicing Volvo's are now adjudged to be enviro-friendly activities, thanks to the Volvo Exchange System whereby used parts are collected from dealers and re-manufactured to the same quality as new parts. Reconditioned, guaranteed parts – ranging from starter motors to complete engines – have gained the Volvo seal of approval, and, ultimately, that of the automotive industry for its conscience and enterprise.

The Volvo EPI (Environmental Product Information) pack is readily available to all of its customers and provides relevant data for all models in its range, describing the process' involved in production, use and disposal and the environmental effect sustained as a result.

Volvo's long-standing commitment to environment

Never to be accused of jumping aboard an eco-powered bandwagon, Volvo have been at the vanguard of environmental considerations for the past 25 years.

In 1982 for example, they harnessed the residual heat from nearby refineries in its homeland to heat its production site at Torslanda, and in 1988 spearheaded the facilitation of natural gas to heat its European factories by. In 2008, its manufacturing installations draw energies only from Hydro power, whilst they conduct research into wind-power.