Sound thinking: an auto parts supplier uses plastics in its acoustical panels.

The automotive industry is confronted with increasing environmental issues associated with the growing worldwide fleet of vehicles. These issues include fuel consumption and emissions of the vehicle in use, as well as consumption of non-renewable material, generation of waste during production and disposal of vehicles at the end of life.

In response to these problems, new legislation and customer requirements have increased. These requirements underline the need for environmentally friendly innovation. The companies that can innovate, for instance, by offering solutions for recycling or end-of-life alternatives, can capitalize on a great business opportunity.

Worldwide progress in sustainable mobility and in environmental performance of automobiles can count many successful stories, a few of which are presented here.

SUSTAINABILITY. In the latter half of the 20th century, the market-driven economy has offered the citizens of Western countries "material well-being." The material well-being has been based on the exponential increase in the production of consumer goods.

The aviator, explorer and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, "We have not inherited the Earth from our parents; we have borrowed it from our children." Certainly the problems of depletion of resources and environmental degradation have worsened.

To address this problem the concept of "sustainable development" has been introduced into our work and daily lives. Sustainable development seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Like most industries, the automotive industry is confronted with environmental issues. Among these, recycling or end-of-life alternatives represent a great business opportunity that has not been yet fully exploited.

LIFE-CYCLE THINKING. In order to improve the environmental efficiency of vehicles, all phases of vehicle life cycle shall be considered. Life cycle analysis takes into account all the environmental aspects that occur in the complete life cycle of a product.

Life cycle thinking is a holistic view: Design options should not have a reduced impact at one life-cycle stage at the expense of increasing the impact on the complete life cycle. Therefore trade-offs between design options, as well as between stages of the life cycle, have to be examined carefully.

To achieve the least environmental impact, it is important to be pro-active, improving products and processes starting from the very beginning of the design phases, where the degree of freedom is extremely higher. This puts the burden on the designers, product developers and R&D managers to drive the life cycle improvement.

Research has brought the innovative concept of eco-design, also known as Design for Environment (DfE). DfE aims at providing main design directions for creating, developing and improving environmentally sound or "eco-friendly" products.

Eco-friendly parts start with raw materials. Recycled materials should be favored, especially if generated from automobile disposal. This closes the loop in the part's life cycle.

ACOUSTIC EXAMPLES. Automotive acoustical parts have historically used eco-friendly raw materials because of economic considerations.

Damping composites are used in acoustical treatments to reduce the vibrations in the automobile's sheet metal. Typically these will incorporate byproducts such as asphalt, fly ash and limestone fines. They may also include wood fiber recycled from newsprint. Some of these materials would end up in landfills if they were not used in the damping product.

Acoustical de-couplers and absorbers are often made using recycled apparel fibers and urethane foam chips. Paint powder waste from spray operations may also be used in these applications as a binder. Finally, polyester staple fibers made from recycled beverage containers are used extensively.

Thermal control parts often use recycled aluminum to isolate high temperature components from lower temperature components. Fiber made from steelmaking slag may also be used as an insulator. Again use of some of these materials reduces the amount of material being disposed of in landfills.

One recent part deployed is a thermoplastic under-floor panel made from polypropylene reinforced with glass fibers. If isolated by a dismantler, the part can be recycled.

Another part, a "headliner" that lines the roof of a vehicle, is being made with PET made in part from recycled PET bottles. The component is completely recyclable if isolated during dismantling.

Using tools such as life cycle analysis as well as some simple rules of thumb, designers can improve the environmental sustainability of an automobile. This approach can actually benefit automotive suppliers by giving them a competitive edge in today's marketplace and serving as a springboard for low-cost innovations.

Author Francesco Schiavone is a PhD Candidate at the Universita di Firenze in Italy. James Fisher is an engineer and Hameed Khan is a V.P.-research and development with Rieter Automotive North America. He can be contacted at hameed. [e-mail].