FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Volvo Launches New
Environmental Product Declaration Website
Swedish auto manufacturer's holistic approach to providing
environmental-impact information goes high-tech
Irvine, CA (March 7, 2003) - Is it possible for the World Wide Web to have an impact on the environment? Volvo Car Corporation thinks so, and its new Environmental Product Declaration website launched today is yet another first in its holistic approach to informing its customers about the impact its products have on the environment.
Previously offered only in written form that covered a few models, 2003 marks the first use of the Internet as a tool to communicate Volvo's environmental declarations across its entire line of vehicles. The new website, http://www.epd.volvocars.se/us/, allows users to view Volvo's holistic, cradle-to-grave, approach of caring for the environment. A few clicks of the mouse takes visitors on a tour of the many ways a car impacts the environment, and what Volvo is doing to minimize these factors. Important environmental concerns such as chemical solvent emissions during the manufacturing process are addressed. Did you know that since the 1970s solvent emissions have been reduced by 90 percent from the company's manufacturing plant in Torslanda, Sweden? Perhaps the visitor would like to know exactly how many pounds of the compact V40 wagon is produced from nonmetallic recycled materials (50 lbs.), or the amount of materials utilized within the XC90 (97.7 percent, meaning that just 2.3 percent is considered waste product). No problem, it's all within a few clicks of the easily navigated website.
Volvo was the first manufacturer to offer such a declaration, and now the first to offer its entire model lineup for review on the Internet. Verification of the data is validated by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Limited (LRQA), and is based upon the rigid International Standards Organization (ISO) requirements.
First conceived in November 1998, the product declarations of Volvo's vehicles provide car buyers with adequate and meaningful information, in order to allow them to compare different makes and models objectively in environmental terms. Using a system of life-cycle assessment called EPS (Environmental Priority Strategies), Volvo focuses its efforts on three important environmental issues: protecting human health, lowering resource utilization and reducing ecological consequences. To accomplish these goals the declaration is divided into four areas: Environmental Management, Production, Useful Life and Recycling.
Volvo Cars of North America, LLC is part of the Volvo Car Corporation of Göteborg, Sweden. The company provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to Volvo automobile retailers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
The 2003 Volvo automobile line includes the award-winning XC90, the sporty S60 sedan, the flagship S80 luxury sedan, versatile V70 wagon and rugged XC70, the C70 convertible, and the compact S40 and V40 models.
For more information contact:
James Hope - Product Communications
800-970-0888
Public Affairs, Volvo Cars of North America, LLC
Media website: www.volvocars-pr.com
