 |
Wednesday, 30 November 2005 | senay
Renault Wins Eco-Design Award for the Modus Dashboard
The ecological design of the Modus dashboard has earned Renault second prize in the "Eco-products for Sustainable Development" category in the 2005 Entreprises & Environnement Award.
The award recognizes Renault's success in meeting the challenge of recycling in vehicle design. The Modus dashboard illustrates Renault's systematic approach, which focuses on using recycled materials, controlling the composition of those materials, and improving recyclability. Nelly Olin, France's Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development, presented the award on November 29, 2005 at the Pollutec trade show.
In this year's Prix Entreprises & Environnement Award, Renault won second prize in the "Eco-products for Sustainable Development" category for the Modus dashboard. The prize is awarded for a product or service whose design provides economic, social and environmental benefits. It was presented to Renault by Nelly Olin, Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development, on November 29, 2005.
In line with its strategy of sustainable development, Renault designed the dashboard for the Modus with three environmental objectives in mind: use recycled materials, control the substances present in those materials, and improve recyclability at the end of its service life.
The dashboard contains 4kg of recycled material, or one-half its total weight, which is more than is found in any other plastic component in the automotive industry. Renault's Vehicle Engineering Department and Visteon designed the dashboard, with help from the recycling firm C2P in developing the special recycled material. The dashboard perfectly fits Renault's specifications for durability and performance in the event of a head-on collision. Altogether, the Modus contains almost 18kg of recycled plastic in various components, including the wheel arch shields, the under-engine skidplate, the rear suspension fairings and the spare wheel.
The excellent recyclability of the Modus' dashboard comes from the use of materials like polypropylene, for which there are highly reliable recycling options with plenty of capacity.
In designing the dashboard, Renault and Visteon also made an effort to employ homogeneous materials (i.e., from the same chemical family) to simplify their sorting and reuse as primary materials. Each part thus includes a written indication of the materials that went into making it.
A Systematic and Systematized Approach
Renault's "life-cycle management" approach to products is systematic and integrated in its organizational structure. Renault has had a recycling unit since 1999. Its managers, who report both to the engineering project managers and to the Materials Department, are on hand when each new project is launched. Their role is to see that recycling issues are addressed very early in the vehicle design process.
Renault is the first vehicle manufacturer to place the emphasis on using recycled materials and to design parts directly with recycled plastic. It is also the world's largest user of recycled polypropylene, with annual consumption of 25,000 tonnes. Because of the ecological design of Renault vehicles, 95% of their weight can be recycled.
About Renault
Renault is an international automaker that has acquired a global reach through its Alliance with Nissan and acquisitions of Romanian car manufacturer, Dacia, and South Korea's Samsung Motors. Renault pursues a strategy of profitable and responsible growth with its innovative, quality range of vehicles and services. For nearly 50 years, Renault has made safety a pillar of its strategy. Today it boasts the safest line-up in Europe -- it has seven cars with five stars in Euro NCAP crash tests. Worldwide, Renault employs 132,000 people. It sold 2,490,000 vehicles in 2004, recording revenues of 40.7 billion Euros and a net income of 3.5 billion Euros. http://www.renault.com/
About Renault Modus : http://www.dexigner.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1360
|
|
|
