At the plant in Palmela in the south of Portugal, 3000 Volkswagen Autoeuropa staff produce the VW EOS, the Sharan as well as vans for SEAT. Volkswagen Autoeuropa is one of the few plants in Portugal already to have received a certification according to ISO 14001. Since receiving its own certificate, the site has also supported its most important suppliers in obtaining an environmental certificate of their own and encouraged them in this process.
Soil protection and waste management
In planning the plant, special attention was paid to protection of soil and groundwater. All pipelines through which potentially dangerous substances are transported were installed above ground level. Tanks which are set into the soil are fitted with double side walls and leak detection devices.
In the case of waste handling, choice of processes and packaging, great emphasis has been placed on factors such as recycling and volume minimisation. Waste reduction targets have also been set. The plant uses recyclable packaging for most vehicle parts, while the remaining packaging waste and other materials such as paper, cardboard, plastics, wood or metals are separated then sold to specialist recycling companies. All areas used for temporary storage of waste are leak-proof, insulated and connected to a waste water preparation plant.
Health and safety in the workplace
Volkswagen Autoeuropa takes all possible measures to both protect and improve the health and safety of its workers. For this reason, the plant has established a set of guidelines for health and safety in the workplace. The main emphasis here is on avoiding and minimising risks in conjunction with specialist activities of staff. Volkswagen Autoeuropa takes great efforts to ensure staff are only assigned the types of tasks that match their own individual physical and mental capacities. Disabled workers in particular are only entrusted with the sorts of tasks suitable for their capabilities.
Environmental Indicators Volkswagen Autoeuropa 2010 (2.5 MB)
