Resource conservation

Resource conservation in production

Strategy and concepts

More resource-efficient production

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The use of resources in the vehicle as well as the consumption of resources in production play an important role in the environmental compatibility of a vehicle. For this reason, the Mercedes-Benz Group is continuously working on making production more efficient and environmentally compatible. In order to improve its environmental footprint in production operations, the Group therefore plans to use less energy and water and fewer raw materials.

One important lever for reaching this goal is to increase energy efficiency. In this way, the company reduces energy consumption, conserves resources and at the same time reduces CO₂ emissions in production. The Mercedes-Benz Group also wants to reduce water consumption – for example by closing water loops. Conserving resources also means reducing waste volumes. To achieve this, the Group is stepping up its efforts to reduce the consumption of raw materials and other materials at its locations.

For its production sites worldwide, the Mercedes-Benz Group has set reduction targets for energy and water consumption, total waste volume and the volume of waste for disposal per vehicle. In order to achieve its goals, the Group uses Group-wide resource management with its environmental and energy management systems to ensure that appropriate measures are developed, adapted to challenges where necessary, and monitored.

Group-wide resource management

Reducing the ecological footprint of production processes is an integral part of the Mercedes-Benz Group’s sustainable business strategy. In order to ensure efficient, high-quality, and environmentally friendly manufacturing operations, the Group has established environmental management systems in accordance with EMAS or ISO 14001 at its production sites around the world. Since 2012, it has also introduced energy management systems certified in accordance with the DIN EN ISO 50001 standard at its German production sites. These energy management systems are certified at regular intervals. The Mercedes-Benz Group is currently also implementing ISO 50001 systems at a number of individual sites outside Germany. In accordance with the standard, it has embedded environmental and energy management within its organization. The individual divisions and production locations are similarly responsible for the conservative use of resources. They set overarching and location-specific targets and report on these topics to the respective management. This approach is derived from the target system adopted by the Board of Management as part of the sustainable business strategy.

With its environmental and energy management systems, the Mercedes-Benz Group ensures, among other things, clear responsibilities, transparent, standardised implementation of internal and external environmental protection and energy efficiency requirements, and comprehensive reporting at its production locations worldwide. As part of the local environmental management systems and the overarching Group-wide risk assessments, the Mercedes-Benz Group monitors the legal conformity of operations in the areas of waste management, airborne emissions, waste water discharge and soil/groundwater contamination in connection with the handling of environmentally hazardous substances is monitored. If any relevant shortcomings are identified, the Mercedes-Benz Group records and rectifies them.

To protect people and the environment, the safe and legally compliant use of hazardous substances must be ensured. To this end, the Mercedes-Benz Group has developed and implemented a comprehensive IT-supported hazardous substance management system at its German locations and individual locations outside Germany. This includes a number of internal specifications and processes, among others, for the approval of hazardous substances or the testing of substitutes with lower risks. Compliance with the requirements is monitored by suitable control mechanisms. In addition, important key figures on hazardous substance management are presented transparently at the plant, department or cost centre level. In this way, unit-specific targets can be systematically defined and pursued. In addition, the Mercedes-Benz Group has been working since as far back as 2017 with the globally applicable standard “Handling of Hazardous Substances” and has implemented this as an accompanying regulation within the Group’s “Environmental and energy policy” as a way of documenting requirements in relation to the legally compliant use of hazardous materials and corresponding regulations on the verification of substitutions and thus use of less critical hazardous materials.

The effectiveness of the management systems is monitored by external auditors as part of the certification process (ISO 14001, EMAS, ISO 50001), as well as in the environmental sector by internal environmental risk assessments (environmental due diligence process).

Environmental risk assessment

As long ago as in 1999, the Group developed an environmental due diligence method in order to make potential environmental risks at the production locations transparent as well as evaluate and to prevent them accordingly. Since then, the Mercedes-Benz Group has applied these throughout the Group – both internally at all production locations in which the Mercedes-Benz Group holds a majority stake and externally in merger and acquisition projects. The company also has a standardized process in place for reviewing and assessing its consolidated production sites every five years. The results of this process are reported to the respective plant and company management so that any necessary optimizations can be carried out. In addition, the Group undertakes an annual review of the extent to which the recommendations for risk minimisation have been implemented at the locations. The aim of the environmental risk assessment is to maintain a high environmental standard at all production sites worldwide.

Four risk assessment cycles were completed at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans production locations between 2000 and 2019. The fifth round of these environmental risk assessments started in 2019 and will run until 2026.

Travel restrictions and lockdown regulations due to the Covid-19 pandemic limited the number of site inspections that could be carried out in 2021. Van production sites were evaluated during the year under review. The inspections that had to be cancelled will now be carried out over the next few years so that the Mercedes-Benz Group can maintain the five-year cycle for its production sites. The Mercedes-Benz Group is continuing the internal reporting process and the controlling of the improvement measures as before.

Measures

Training sessions on environmental protection

The Mercedes-Benz Group conducts environmental protection courses at its locations. The important content includes waste and hazardous materials management, water pollution control, wastewater treatment, emergency management in case of environmentally relevant malfunctions and the planning of plants and workplaces in accordance with environmental protection principles.

The content and frequency of the various environmental training courses, completion of which is in some cases mandatory, depend on personal responsibilities and functions in the Group, the local conditions and the current legal requirements.

Reduction of energy consumption

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The Group raises awareness of the topic of energy-saving among the workforces at the plants – among other things with generally visible tips, training courses and other initiatives. Within a project, for example, multipliers are nominated in all teams, across the board, and given special training. The aim is to enhance awareness within the teams and to contribute actively to the shaping of sustainability issues.

When procuring new production facilities and converting buildings, the Mercedes-Benz Group pays attention to high energy efficiency. The focus here is on the control systems for all technical installations and components, as well as a transparent system for measuring consumption. It is important, for example, that the production facilities can be switched off during breaks and non-production time, and can also be operated efficiently under partial load.

The Mercedes-Benz Group regularly measures and assesses essential energy consumption in order to identify and take advantage of savings potential in the areas of production and infrastructure.

Innovative energy management software is now being used on a worldwide basis as a means of gaining transparency over energy sourcing and to record and analyse energy consumption. This is used to record and analyse the consumption for production plants and buildings, as well as for individual systems. In the event of any divergences, corresponding countermeasures will then be automatically introduced.

In order to save energy, the Group is investing in the efficient control of all energy supply and building services systems, for example through needs-oriented control of local lighting, the regulation of air flow volume in air intake and extraction systems as well as load-dependent volume control of the air supply in the case of paint drying systems.

In addition, the Group makes use of intelligent robot control systems, highly efficient turbocompressors for the central generation of compressed air, updated ventilation systems featuring highly efficient heat recovery technology and a systematic reduction in the base load of the administration and production areas, as well as systematically updated lighting technology at all locations.

In the reporting year, Mercedes-Benz AG used highly efficient robots to assemble the new S-Class and the EQS. This enabled energy consumption to be significantly reduced compared to the previous years.

In addition, in 2021 the Mercedes-Benz Group has increased the energy efficiency at the US plant in Tuscaloosa – among other things by optimising existing ventilation systems, converting to LED lighting and using a highly efficient chiller to supply the new battery plant, which started operations in March 2022.

At all Mercedes-Benz Vans production locations, the Mercedes-Benz Group is continually optimising the energy efficiency of technical systems and building facilities: in 2022, for example, a heat pump was installed in the paint pre-treatment area at the Düsseldorf plant, the waste heat from which is fed into the hot water system. In the Ludwigsfelde and Vitoria (Spain) plants, the Group converted the lighting to LED technology.

Efficient water utilisation

Risks for the water supply as a consequence of climate change – for example through a reduction in precipitation – affect people and the environment generally, as well as the various locations of the Mercedes-Benz Group. It therefore also wants to play its part in ensuring the more sustainable management of water resources. In order to achieve this, the Mercedes-Benz Group adopted a Water policy in July 2022. It is based on the following strategic pillars "Fresh water protection including reduction of consumption", "Efficient use and treatment of waste water" as well as "Avoidance of soil and groundwater degradation and flood protection".

The Mercedes-Benz Group wants to close water cycles – for instance by treating used process water and using closed-loop cooling systems instead of open ones. In its rain test, in which new vehicles are tested for water resistance, the Mercedes-Benz Group has implemented water-saving measures: for example, at some locations it utilises a biological water treatment process which uses no biocides. As a result, the wastewater contains fewer pollutants and the volume of water can be retained and reused within the cycle about three times as frequently. Waste water from production and sanitary facilities is either transferred to local waste water treatment facilities in accordance with local regulations, or is pre-treated or purified on the Group’s own premises. At certain locations the Mercedes-Benz Group, in some cases in collaboration with municipal waste water disposal authorities, is using purified waste water from biological treatment plants: in Sindelfingen, for example, a third of all fresh water is set to be replaced from May 2023 by treated waste water from the nearby sewage treatment plant. This project serves as a pilot for further recycling projects in other plants.

The Mercedes-Benz Group wants to reduce its water consumption. In its new paint shops, for example, it uses dry instead of wet separation technologies. Furthermore, at the Bremen and Untertürkheim plants, the Group has installed additional filter stages in the osmosis systems. These systems produce (fully) desalinated process water from certain raw waters. The additional filter stages will save about 100,000 cubic metres of raw water per year.

In order to improve water quality and minimise the risk of water pollution, the Mercedes-Benz Group’s commitment to waste water discharge includes, for example, regular waste water inspections and their documentation. To initiate targeted measures at the locations, the Group developed the “Storm Water Protection – Pollutant Discharge Elimination” standard in 2014. This standard provides fundamental information and guidelines for the prevention and reduction of potential environmental damage through the rainwater management systems at production facilities, Group-owned sales and service outlets, and workshops. Since then, it has provided a basis for the targeted improvement of water quality.

Assessing water-related risks

At Mercedes-Benz locations, the Mercedes-Benz Group also assesses water risks every five years as part of its environmental risk assessments. The focus is on water extraction, waste water treatment, discharge, contamination, flooding, scarcity and retention in an emergency. If necessary, remedial measures are initiated and their implementation is monitored. This ensures that technical and organisational risks are reduced in a demonstrable manner. Based on the assessments of the past five years, only a few locations were identified as suffering from water-related risks.

In addition, since 2021 Mercedes-Benz AG uses the so-called “Water Risk Filter” of the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) as a means of identifying locations that are subject to water-related risks. Analyses according to the criteria of the WWF Water Risk Filter were conducted at all production locations during the reporting year. Corresponding data relating to water extraction and water consumption are available for all production locations (including for areas with a higher risk of water stress). Data on water recirculation are available for individual production locations with a higher risk of water stress.

Less waste

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The Mercedes-Benz Group has the goal of keeping the amount of waste generated in production as low as possible. To this end, it wants to reduce total waste, including the waste for disposal.

In accordance with the waste hierarchy, the Mercedes-Benz Group's primary goal is to avoid waste. The following then apply, in decreasing order of priority: reuse, recycling and reprocessing. The Mercedes-Benz Group disposes of the waste only if none of these four measures can be applied. Accordingly, about 1% of the waste from Mercedes-Benz Cars had to be disposed of in the reporting year.

In order to reduce total waste, it is important to create transparency about the waste value streams and to correctly separate the different types of waste. In Europe, for example, the Mercedes-Benz Group records waste according to waste code numbers and treats and disposes of it in accordance with the legal regulations. For the professional disposal of waste, the Group always works with licensed and regularly certified waste disposal companies. It also continues to reduce waste such as offcuts, sand, filter materials and sludges through new or optimised production processes.

Among other things, in a pilot trial at the Hedelfingen and Sebes (Romania) plants, only cardboard without plastic coating is in use since the beginning of 2022. As a result, around 1000 t of cardboard can be recycled per year – previously, only thermal reprocessing was possible. At the Sindelfingen plant, the Group has succeeded in transferring steel scrap from the press shop into a closed cycle since the beginning of 2022: each year, about 24,000 t of steel scrap will be returned to the supplier. New steel sheets are made from this and cycled back into production in Sindelfingen. The Mercedes-Benz Group also works with its suppliers to avoid waste: load carriers and materials for load securing have been transferred into a cycle and can be reused from now on.

Waste and CO₂ emissions in the catering sector

Mercedes-Benz Gastronomie GmbH supplies the company’s workforce with food and beverages on a daily basis in canteens and shops throughout Germany. The production, distribution and disposal of these foods have a negative impact on the environment. The aim of Mercedes-Benz Gastronomie GmbH is to reduce the CO₂ balance and the amount of food waste, as well as to offer more environmentally friendly packaging.

To achieve this, non-avoidable disposable packaging consists of renewable raw materials that are biodegradable or recyclable. However, the Group is focusing on more sustainable reusable alternatives: for example, the already established reusable system for take-away food saved nearly 40,000 oackages having to be disposed of in the reporting year.

Mercedes-Benz Gastronomie GmbH is also expanding its range of vegan products. Furthermore, the Group sources regional and seasonal food. In 2022, 54% of these were sourced from regional suppliers. The associated shorter transport routes have a positive effect on the CO₂ balance of the food. Since March 2022, this balance has been shown for the individual dishes throughout Germany in order to sensitise the employees of the Mercedes-Benz Group to a conscious and more climate-friendly diet. The target of reducing the CO₂ emissions of purchased and produced food by up to 15% in 2022 was achieved. This measure, in conjunction with the introduction of a gastronomic traffic light system and the calculation of a health index for the dishes, has had a positive effect on employees’ eating habits. For example, the health value of all food consumed increased by 6% in the year under review.

The health index is an internal indicator for the nutritional behaviour and health orientation of employees. To determine it, all recipes are evaluated according to the quality of the ingredients, as well as the preparation method, fat content and quality, sugar content and keep-warm times, among other factors. The Mercedes-Benz Group makes it easier for its employees to choose healthier and thus frequently also more sustainable alternatives, as indicated by the traffic light colours green, yellow and red on the menu.

In addition, Mercedes-Benz Gastronomie GmbH tries not to waste any food and to avoid food waste along the entire value chain from purchasing to food production. For this purpose, the Group continuously weighs its food waste, compares it between locations and derives appropriate measures. In this way, it can avoid overproduction, reduce the amount of food replenishment required at the end of serving times and work towards resource-saving ordering behaviour. The measures are also enshrined in the local environmental protection and energy targets of the Mercedes-Benz Group.

Biological diversity

The decline of biodiversity is a global problem that is steadily growing. The Mercedes-Benz Group also bears responsibility in this regard since the use of land and resources, the emission of pollutants and production-related interference with the environment can have a negative impact on biodiversity. The Group is aware of this. For this reason, the goal of the Mercedes-Benz Group is therefore to act in an environmentally aware manner at all locations, and to continually improve its operational environmental performance. This also includes promoting and preserving biodiversity at the production locations. When creating the location profile as part of the Due Diligence process for evaluating environmental protection in the plants, factors considered include the surface sealing level of the site, the hydrogeological situation, the classification of the location and its neighbourhood by the local authorities and the existence of ecologically sensitive areas or protected zones in the vicinity of the site. These are then taken into consideration during the further analysis of risks at the site. In its location planning, the Group takes into account criteria like the land use for construction projects, among others. In principle, this should be kept as low as possible – for example through multi-storey, dense building construction.

Some of the German plants of the Mercedes-Benz Group evaluate their sites using the Biodiversity Index (BIX), which was developed in-house. The BIX index ranges from Level 0 (area of no ecological importance) to Level V (very high ecological importance) and can assess sites in terms of their potential for enhancing biodiversity.

Furthermore, internal recommendations for action on “Biodiversity” have been developed for the German locations of the Mercedes-Benz Group. These provide practical advice on designing plant areas that are as far as possible in harmony with nature. The Group has also developed recommendations for its locations on how to cultivate living roofs and facades.

The Mercedes-Benz Group-wide measures for the awareness and promotion of biodiversity are coordinated by the Environmental and Energy Management unit. The Chief Environmental/Energy Officer of the Mercedes-Benz Group also represents environmental and energy issues on the Group Sustainability Board, the central governance body for sustainability issues. At the executive level (plant management), biodiversity aspects are also part of the environmental management assessment process at the individual locations.

At its plants, the Mercedes-Benz Group has already established numerous measures designed to maintain the ecological balance. These will continue to be extended in the future. For example, nesting boxes for native birds and insects have been built, the latter by local workshops employing people with disabilities. In addition, wild bee hotels, living roofs, dry brooks, stone areas as habitats for cold-blooded animals, rock gardens and flower meadows have been created. If it is not possible to establish supportive or compensatory measures directly at the Group’s locations, the Mercedes-Benz Group will create substitute habitats. The German environmental organisation NABU has provided advice, support and documentation for the Group’s programmes benefiting the flora and fauna at these sites. The measures were decided individually at the level of the plant locations and their management, and implemented in cooperation with the environmental protection and technical services departments along with the plant planning departments.

Effectiveness and results

Effectiveness of the management approach

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For its production sites worldwide, the Mercedes-Benz Group has set reduction targets for factors such as total waste volume and waste volume for disposal per vehicle. As the central governance body for sustainability issues, the Group Sustainability Board is the highest management body. The objectives and current status of the implementation process are discussed here on an annual basis and, should this be necessary, measures initiated to ensure that objectives are met.

For the monitoring of these reduction targets and reporting, the Group systematically collects the most important environmental and energy data from the German and foreign plants. This data is entered into a central environmental data information system by the worldwide production locations and subsequently evaluated.

Based on this data and with the help of internal and external tools, the Mercedes-Benz Group reviews the extent to which the resource targets for the plants are being achieved. For the internal review it has defined key figures, which are regularly tracked. The Mercedes-Benz Group has entrusted an auditing firm with the external review. This evaluates a selection of the Mercedes-Benz Group’s goals and their implementation on an annual basis. The Mercedes-Benz Group uses the audited results to adapt and further develop its resource conservation measures.

Results

Energy consumption per vehicle broken down by car and powertrain plants

The resource conservation projects were implemented as planned. Due to the implementation of further energy efficiency measures, the energy consumption per vehicle at Mercedes-Benz Cars could be reduced by 18% compared with 2021.

Around 4% of the energy consumption per vehicle produced is accounted for by generating losses from electricity and heat production in Mercedes-Benz Cars’ highly efficient combined heat and power plants.

The production sites of the powertrain plants produce products and parts sets for vehicles whose production volumes are not consolidated in the Group’s balance sheet. Around 32% of the energy consumption of the powertrain plants is accounted for by these production scopes.

At Mercedes-Benz Vans, energy consumption per vehicle is 15% lower than in the previous year owing to similar effects.

Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans consumed 5,140 GWh of electricity, natural gas, fuels and other energy sources in 2022, and thus 11% less than in the previous year.

In 2022, of the energy sources supplied from outside the Group (electricity, natural gas and hot water) the Mercedes-Benz Group passed a total of 451,581 GWh on to third parties. This figure has already been subtracted from the total energy consumption of the Mercedes-Benz Group as reported.

In the Mercedes-Benz Cars segment, the water consumption per vehicle fell by 10% in the reporting year compared to 2021. Mercedes-Benz Vans, on the other hand, was able to reduce the water consumption per vehicle by 14% compared to the previous year.

At Mercedes-Benz Group, only renewable fresh water (≤1000 mg/l total dissolved solids – TDS) is used. Sea water/brackish water (>1000 mg/l TDS) are not used. In addition, the sector-specific water types "produced water", "enclosed water" and "cooled water" do not play any role in this form at the production locations. Nor is any waste water or process water retained. In order to reduce the need for water and thus the extraction of water, this is kept within the loop and is thus recycled and reused. 

Development of waste for disposal Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans

Of the total volume of water sourced externally and specially supplied from wells, the Mercedes-Benz Group in 2022 passed 136,792 m³ on to third parties. This quantity has already been subtracted from the total reported water consumption of the Group. In 2022, a total of 5162 m³ was passed on by the Mercedes-Benz Group AG to third parties via an indirect feed in the form of waste water. Currently only the water that is passed on to third parties falls into the category of water recirculation.

In the reporting year, Mercedes-Benz Cars reduced the total waste per vehicle by 15% and the amount of waste for disposal per vehicle by 10% compared to 2021. At Mercedes-Benz Vans, the total waste per vehicle increased by 4% in the reporting year compared to the previous year, but the amount of waste for disposal per vehicle fell by 27%.

Key figures