Electric or electrified: more and more cars are offering these technologies, designed to reduce fuel consumption and cut emissions of pollutants. And then there is connectivity and micromobility. But to speak of sustainability in the round, one cannot do without a production process that is itself respectful of the environment. This is a subject on which the Volkswagen Group has long been investing resources. A project that encompasses all brands, in every country in which the Group operates.

Ambitious targets

Let's start with the numbers, which sometimes reveal more than any amount of words. Over ten years, SEAT has recorded a 43 per cent reduction across the main environmental indicators linked to production, including energy and water consumption, waste generation, volatile organic compounds and CO2 emissions. More specifically, since 2010 CO2 emissions have fallen by 65 per cent, energy consumption by 26 per cent and water consumption by 32 per cent. Improved waste management has led to a 58 per cent reduction in waste produced (-38.5 per cent from 2019 to 2020 alone), with a 23 per cent cut in volatile organic compound emissions. These figures make the company's target for 2025 entirely achievable: a 50 per cent reduction in impact compared with 2010.

The sustainability of cars: how production is "lightened"

To achieve a target of this kind, not a single detail can be overlooked. Among the measures adopted to ensure the sustainability of cars, the amount of packaging and fillers has been reduced, the treatment and separation of waste has been optimised, and plastic bottles inside the plant have been replaced with reusable ones. This last measure alone has led to the elimination of 22 tonnes of plastic per year.

Energy recovery

Much like hybrid cars, which achieve high levels of efficiency thanks above all to the recovery of kinetic energy that is converted into electrical energy, it could be said that the SEAT factory has also shifted, in a sense, towards the hybrid: the heat generated by the chimneys of the paint-drying ovens is recovered and converted into electrical energy; this results in an annual saving equivalent to the natural gas needed to produce 11.7 GWh of energy. Furthermore, in the paint shop, the water used to spray paint onto the body panels is reused, thanks to an internal collection and purification circuit for the water itself.

Beyond the factory, there is more

SEAT's sustainability strategy extends beyond cars and factories: it also embraces the restoration of the natural balance of certain "sensitive" locations, such as the Llobregat Delta, where some SEAT employees have planted hundreds of trees of various species with the aim of safeguarding biodiversity. Furthermore, with Move to Zero, SEAT has set itself the goal of reducing the environmental impact of all its products and mobility solutions throughout their entire life cycle, from the sourcing of raw materials through production to the end of their useful life. Concrete actions that form part of the ambitious project to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.