Mobility and Sustainability.

With 7,900 employees, the Volkswagen plant in Emden is the region's largest employer. Its main products are the VW Passat and the Passat Variant, which is only manufactured in Emden. A special feature and significant advantage for this location is that it has its own harbour.
From this harbour, 900,000 Volkswagen vehicles are shipped each year all over the world, and other models are imported to Emden, including the Sharan from Portugal or the New Beetle from Mexico.

Environmental protection reduces costs
The Emden plant has been manufacturing the VW Passat since 1977. Over the last ten years in particular, Volkswagen has made certain that the Passat has kept in step with increasing requirements regarding quality, safety, convenience and equipment. Despite this development, the Emden plant has kept the quantity of waste at a constant level since 1994 and has been able to vastly increase the recycling rate from 21 percent to 67 percent. Meanwhile, investments in facilities and process improvements have reduced paint consumption by 30 percent and solvent emissions by 50 percent. For Volkswagen in Emden, such achievements not only contribute to environmental protection, they also reduce costs - for instance, by saving on materials used.

Ten years of the Eco-audit
In particular, environmental improvements at the Emden plant can be traced back to the various environmental audits and certifications implemented at the plant. In 1995, the Emden plant was the first automotive plant in Europe to have its environmental management system validated in compliance with the EU Eco-Audit. Thus the subjects of environmental protection and sustainable production have long been key components in all planning phases for products and manufacture. For example, a compressed air consumption indicator can be found on every new welding line. The plant trains its employees with the goal that each individual will seek to save energy and reduce waste wherever he or she works. There are also 52 specially trained employees throughout the various departments, available to answer co-workers' questions on environmental protection.