Mobility and Sustainability.

Around 14,900 staff are currently employed at the Volkswagen plant in Mexico (VWM), which has been in existence since 1964. More than 80 percent of the some 300,000 New Beetles, New Beetle Cabriolets, Jettas and Golf Variant produced at the plant in 2005 are destined for export via the global market. A comprehensive organisation for environmental matters exists at the plant. An environmental management system according to ISO 14001 has existed at the plant since the year 2000. Prior to that, in 1998, the plant also participated in a national programme involving voluntary environmental auditing and has been certified as a "clean industry" ever since.

Recycling und water management
Environmental efforts at the site in Puebla mainly focus on recycling and water management. The recycling quota for packaging materials is around 98 percent. As well as accounting for a profit of 950,000 US dollars when sold, the sorted packages also save fees of 250,000 dollars on landfill waste.
The plant is striving greatly to reduce its water requirements. Various water sources are being used to supplement its fresh water requirements. In addition, waste water is fed through the circuit and divided up into various categories. Organic matter is removed from sanitation waste water using bacteria for example, and then prepared as processing water using a filtering system. Industrial waste water is treated using mechanical and chemical processes and rainwater is fed directly into a retention pond. Over the last five years, it has been possible to reduce the amount of freshwater from the well at the plant by around 20 percent.

Groundwater protection in the volcano region
Water is a precious commodity in Mexico. Increasing deforestation and ground erosion as well as increased water withdrawal threaten the ground water reserves in many regions of the country. Since February 2008, Volkswagen has therefore been implementing measures to enable increased use of rain water.

Project "For the love for the planet"
Volkswagen has been supporting the project "For the love of the Planet" in Mexico since 2006. The project aims to support scientific research in nature conservation areas.

Responsibility towards staff
Health and safety of staff at the site is taken very seriously. In 2005, VWM conducted a voluntary self audit of its system for health and safety at work under the supervision of the Mexican employment ministry. Training of staff is carried out according to international standards of competitiveness. Specialist staff, for instance, are trained according to the German dual system of training, which provides outstanding opportunities for career development. Out of the 4,200 staff trained at the plant since 1966, around 2,200 are today working in other companies.

Commitment to children in need
VWM provides support to socially-disadvantaged elements of the population in the catchment area around Puebla. Activities particularly concentrate on deprived children. Two activities are especially worth mentioning - "A day for the future" and "Casa del Sol". With "Day for the future", staff at the plant are called upon once a year to donate a day's wages to support deprived children in Puebla. The money which is donated is then doubled by VWM and presented to regional institutions that care for children in need. 6.4 million pesos (560,000 euro) have been donated to 67 institutions since 2002. The "Casa del Sol" is an orphanage in Puebla, which was built by a group of German and Mexican volunteers in the mid-1980s. Volkswagen has provided financial support to this institution since 1990, with 625,000 pesos (ca. 40,000 euro) currently being donated each year. Casa del Sol provides care for around 60 children of up to six years of age, who are looked after by voluntary helpers. These volunteers are for the most part Volkswagen staff or their relatives.

Further information about Social Responsibility