Volvo and the environment
In addition to continuous environmental refinement of conventional
gasoline-powered internal combustion engines, Volvo is actively looking
at advanced technology alternative-fuel vehicles.
When you drive a Volvo, you become our partner in the work to lessen
the car's impact on the environment.
To reduce your vehicle's environmental impact, you can:
•Maintain proper air pressure in your tires. Tests have shown de-
creased fuel economy with improperly inflated tires
•Follow the recommended maintenance schedule in your Warranty and
Service Records Information booklet.
•Drive at a constant speed
•See an authorized Volvo retailer as soon as possible for inspection if
the check engine (malfunction indicator) lamp
illuminates, or stays on
after the vehicle has started
•Properly dispose of any vehicle related waste such as used motor oil,
used batteries, brake pads, etc.
•When cleaning your car, use Volvo's own car care products, all of
which have systematically been adapted to the environment
PremAir®
On the surface of the radiator in the engine compartment, there is a special
coating called PremAir®. PremAir® works as a catalytic converter,
converting most of the ozone passing through the radiator into oxygen,
thereby reducing harmful ground-level ozone.
PremAir is a registered trademark of Engelhard Corporation.
Volvo is committed to the well being of our customers. As a natural
part of this commitment, we care about the environment in which we all
live. Caring for the environment means an everyday involvement in
reducing our environmental impact.
Volvo's environmental activities are based on a holistic view, which
means we consider the overall environmental impact of a product
throughout its complete life cycle. In this context, design, production,
product use, and recycling are all important considerations.
In production, Volvo has partly or completely phased out several
chemicals including freons, lead chromates, naphtanates, asbestos,
mercury and cadmium; and reduced the amount of chemicals used in
our plants 50% since 1991.
In use, Volvo was the first in the world to introduce into production a
three-way catalytic converter with a Lambda sond, now called oxygen
sensor, in 1976. The current version of this highly efficient system
reduces emissions of harmful substances (CO, HC, NOx) from the
exhaust pipe by approximately 95% and the search to eliminate the
remaining emissions continues. Volvo is the only automobile manufac-
turer to offer CFC-free retrofit kits for the air conditioning system for
all models as far back as the M/Y 1975 240. Advanced electronic
engine controls, refined purification systems and cleaner fuels are
bringing us closer to our goal.
After Volvo cars and parts have fulfilled their use, recycling is the next
critical step in completing the life cycle. The metal content is about
75% of the total weight of a car, which makes the car among the most
recycled industrial products. In order to have efficient and well con-
trolled recycling, many Volvo variants have printed dismantling
manuals, indicating the weight and material of individual components.
For Volvo, all homogeneous plastic parts weighing more than 1.7 oz.
(50 grams) are marked with international symbols that indicate how the
component is to be sorted for recycling.
