Life Cycle Tools for Future Vehicle Sustainability

There is a growing awareness of the business value of sustainable practices. Life cycle tools can be used to design and continually improve future vehicles as well as provide bottom line cost savings, increase the recycled content and recyclability of products, and reduce the hazardous substance content in products.

Data collection and management procedures as well as advanced life cycle technologies and tools have been developed and implemented at some corporations to meet the global market demands to increase the recycled content and recyclability of automobiles and to reduce the hazardous substance content in automobiles. Voluntary take-back legislation in Europe, as well as strict domestic and international labeling and reporting requirements for plastics and hazardous substances have prompted automotive manufacturers to aggressively evaluate (1) the regulated substances contained in their automobiles and (2) the recyclability of their automobiles. The industry is developing strategies to reduce the hazardous substance content of vehicles and manufacturing processes to improve vehicle recyclability in a cost-effective manner. These companies are able to design future automobiles that have less impact on the environment, workers, and the global community and also provide an economic advantage. These tools can help move a company toward sustainability. Two examples are presented in this paper.