Volvo's Strides in Manufacturing Cars from Recycled Materials Revealed
Volvo, the European auto brand owned by China's Geely Holdings since 2010, is moving fast to overhaul its operations in response to intense global competition among automakers to show consumers they're making big changes to cut carbon pollution and go electric.
The Swedish car manufacturer sees plug-in hybrids as a great transition technology, while the electric vehicle is considered a better product in the long term. Volvo is committed to showing consumers the benefits of electric vehicles, recognizing that it may take time for them to adopt the technology.
In line with this commitment, Volvo is converting its factories to be carbon-neutral. Since 2021, the company has modified assembly plants in Sweden and China to be carbon-neutral, utilizing biogas as a major power source. A new factory in Slovakia opening next year will be powered by energy that doesn't add to carbon emissions.
Volvo is also aiming to slash water use by 50% and is notably emphasizing making its entire global manufacturing network fully carbon neutral by 2025. The company wants to reduce the lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40% and implement innovative technologies to decrease water usage and emissions in production processes.
Volvo is increasing the percentage of recycled content in its vehicles. The new ES90 premium EV, for instance, uses 29% recycled aluminum, 18% recycled steel, and 16% recycled polymers and bio-based materials. By the end of the decade, Volvo wants 35% of all content used to make a new vehicle to be recycled.
The supply of recycled battery materials, especially lithium, remains limited, but it's growing. Volvo Cars has made progress on providing battery passports for its electric models, indicating battery materials used, where they came from, and how they were made, two years ahead of a new European Union law requiring them.
While policy changes in the U.S. may curtail sales of EV models, Volvo will continue to invest and innovate, focusing more on plug-in hybrids as a transition technology. Unlike China, where EVs and plug-in hybrids accounted for 56% of new vehicle sales last month, the U.S. market presents unique challenges.
Vanessa Butani, Chief Sustainability Officer of Volvo, is at the forefront of these efforts. She was recently honoured on Forbes' Sustainability Leaders list. Butani's leadership and Volvo's ambitious sustainability goals underscore the company's commitment to becoming a fully circular business by 2040.
Despite delivering fewer than 800,000 vehicles last year, Volvo is making significant strides towards a more sustainable future. The company's megacasting manufacturing process, which replaces 100 small parts with a single large aluminum one to reduce plant emissions, is just one example of how Volvo is leading the way in sustainable automotive production.
In a world where reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainability are increasingly important, Volvo's ambitious plans and ongoing efforts are a testament to the power of innovation and commitment to a greener future.
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