DaimlerChrysler honors innovations in environment

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“Environmental Leadership Award” presented in the USA

Auburn Hills, Jan 28, 2004
DaimlerChrysler is presenting its corporate “Environmental Leadership Award” (ELA) today to three teams of employees. DaimlerChrysler AG Board members Dr. Thomas Weber, with responsibility for research and technology, and Dr. Dieter Zetsche, responsible for the Chrysler Group, will be presenting the award to the project teams.
Environment-friendly top coat: Solvent content reduced by two-thirds

At DaimlerChrysler’s Düsseldorf production plant, a team of employees has developed a single-coat water-based paint with a solvent content reduced by two-thirds from 45% to 15%. Since the Düsseldorf plant is located in a densely populated urban area, odorous emissions were to be reduced as far as technically possible. The new process has not only achieved this objective, but has also further enhanced the sheen of the paint coat. The innovation was also honored by the German Federal Environmental Bureau and the Municipal Environmental Bureau in 2002 and was nominated for the German Environmental Award.

CUTE (“Clean Urban Transport for Europe”) – the world’s first fuel cell buses

Since January 2004, 30 fuel cell buses from DaimlerChrysler have been in local public transport operation in ten major European cities. The buses run on hydrogen, which they receive at specially equipped filling stations, and emit only water. A further advantage of these zero-emission buses is their low-noise operation. The large-scale field test of the fuel cell buses, which is being carried out in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Porto, Reykjavík, Stockholm and Stuttgart, will provide experience in regular operation under various conditions of climate and urban topography. The project is being supported by the European Commission.

Standardized environmental audit in Brazil

At “Tritec Motors”, a Brazilian industrial holding of DaimlerChrysler, an environmental management system was introduced in 2002. The waste disposal companies cooperating with this plant are subjected to a constant assessment and testing process governed by strict environmental protection criteria; this has not yet found wide application in Brazil. The environmental compatibility and savings potential of the service provider’s waste water treatment units, waste disposal processes and transport systems are closely scrutinized. 320 tons of waste were recycled under this system in 2002.

Environmental protection is secured as an integral part of DaimlerChrysler’s corporate strategy. The Environmental Award promotes the employees’ commitment to environmental protection in the project categories “production-related environmental protection”, “product-related environmental protection” and “excellent environmental management”. The annually awarded “ELA” is open to the entire Group. Of the ten short-listed projects, one winner is chosen from each of these three categories