The Volkswagen brand's “Think Blue. Factory.” environmental program remains on track for success. The objective is to reduce energy and water consumption as well as the share in waste, CO2 and solvent emissions at all Volkswagen plants throughout the world by 25 percent. In all, some 5,000 individual measures are to be taken by 2018.
Volkswagen has already successfully implemented more than 2,700 projects and made its production processes 17 percent more environmentally compatible over the past three years. This was the interim assessment made by more than 250 environmental experts from 27 plants of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, the Components business area and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles at today's "Think Blue. Factory." day in Wolfsburg.
"'Think Blue. Factory.' is and remains the approach we have adopted to achieve the sustainability targets we have set ourselves for production and logistics at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand by 2018. I am very pleased to see how effectively the methods and processes we have developed together are now being put into practice at our locations," said Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand responsible for Production and Logistics.
"Our employees have breathed life into the 'Think Blue. Factory.' Program and implemented it with considerable commitment right from the outset. This explains the successes that we have already achieved," said Prof. Werner Neubauer, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand responsible for Components.
"The Works Council sees itself in the role of a driver of this environmental program not only towards the Board of Management but also on site in factory halls and offices. For example, we have already trained about 250 works council members in this area. We are shouldering our responsibility and have given a clear commitment to the environmental goals of Volkswagen," said Works Council Coordinator Jürgen Hildebrandt.
Innovative ideas and successful measures to reduce resource use around the globe were presented. For example, water used to test the firefighting system at the Curitiba plant in Brazil is recycled as cooling water following the tests. The Zwickau and Pamplona plants have significantly reduced water consumption for vehicle tightness tests. In vehicle production, this is the stage that requires most water following the paintshop. The Chemnitz engine plant is saving water, energy and lubricants by filtering cooling emulsion after use in an innovative process.
This year, Volkswagen also honored employees who had demonstrated special commitment in connection with the program. The award-winners are Jorg Kessler from the Hanover plant, Peter Solárik from Bratislava (Slovakia), and Peter Splitt, Udo Guenther and Karsten Folchmann from the Salzgitter plant. Awards for saving water at the plant level went to the Pamplona (Spain), Curitiba (Brazil), Zwickau and Chemnitz plants.
