Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) has implemented two green projects to dramatically reduce the environmental footprint of its Kariega plant in the Eastern Cape.
According to a statement, the projects seek to reduce the German multinational vehicle manufacturer’s reliance on municipal water and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
The first project is a wastewater recycling facility, which has been constructed on-site at the plant. It will recycle production-related wastewater from various production areas, for reuse in certain production processes.
In addition to reducing the company’s freshwater consumption by an estimated 26%, it will serve to reduce VWSA’s reliance on municipally-supplied water amid the ongoing drought in the region, says the company.
At the same time, it has installed a total of 3 136 solar photovoltaic panels, which have been generating renewable, carbon-neutral energy from April. The panels, installed on the roof of the final assembly building, will reduce VWSA’s carbon emissions by an estimated 2 590 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
At full capacity, the panels will produce an estimated 2 500MWh, which is enough energy to cover 3% to 3.5% of the plant’s electricity requirements.
"As with our colleagues across the Volkswagen Group, we are committed to protecting the environment in whatever way we can,” says Ulrich Schwabe, production director at VWSA.
“These two projects will make a massive difference in preserving the environment, and achieving our goal of carbon-neutral production by 2030. I am proud to say VWSA continues to deliver high-quality vehicles in an environmentally responsible way.”
Both projects form part of the priority of environmental sustainability in the company’s We//2025 corporate strategy, and is included in the Zero Impact Factory strategy VWSA embarked on in 2020.
The Zero Impact Factory programme, which follows the successes of VWSA’s Think Blue, is aimed at reducing the company’s production-related environmental footprint, with a specific focus on climate change, environmental impact and the responsible use of natural resources.
VWSA says it has also embarked on an ongoing bio-diversity roadmap, starting in 2021 with a project to replace alien plants and trees within the Kariega premises with indigenous, water-wise plants.
The company says it achieved the following reductions in 2021, compared to the baseline set in 2010 when Think Blue Factory was launched:49% reduction in energy use, 49% reduction in CO2 emission, 65% reduction in water use,66% reduction in waste,31% reduction in solvent emissions and 50.9% reduction in overall environmental impact.
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