What is "recycling oriented design?" Designing products from the start to be recyclable, thereby increasing the efficiency of the recycling process.
Chevrolet’s recycling oriented design strategy is an important element of our
product responsibility. Our objective is to
conserve precious material and energy resources by
reducing waste:
- during vehicle production
- at the end of a vehicle’s life
This
strategy rests on two principles
1. Recycling oriented design. All GM design teams are required to follow "recyclability/recoverability" guidelines during a product’s development phase. We aim to support both GM engineers and suppliers to:
- develop vehicles and components which have recyclability built into them
- analyse parts, components and vehicles in terms of their recyclability and recoverability (the ease with which parts can be recycled at the end of life).
Chevrolet uses
recycled materials, which are also known as
"recyclates" wherever technically feasible and economically viable
- Our recycling team takes every effort to maintain
- high quality look and feel
- mechanical and thermal durability
- performance standards
- Quality is never compromised
The comparable quality of recycled and new materials is so good that they are no longer being restricted to 'hidden parts'. They are used for many visible parts as well.
2. Development and implementation of material "cycles" for vehicle production
The chart below shows how recycling oriented design fits into the overall cycle. A key component, it is, however, only part of the overall integrated product responsibility.
