Recycling

Our cars are easy to dismantle

By making spare parts of homogeneous materials, and by reducing the number of fixings, we make our cars easier to dismantle. We use the ISO standard of material marking on our plastic spare parts, to make it perfectly clear, which parts are recyclable.

Reducing the use of hazardous materials

We avoid hazardous materials. We have stopped using, among others, sodium salt, asbestos and CFC gases. We have been reducing the use of lead since 1997. The use of lead, cadmium, mercury, and 6-valent chrome was forbidden in cars sold after 1st July 2003. We considered it self-evident to observe this law.

Designed for recycling

When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, we must recycle it in order to protect the environment and reduce the amount of waste. Suzuki first published its Guidebook for designs that facilitate recycling in 1993, well before the relevant regulations were passed in Europe. The book was recommended to our employees, so that they should design products that are easy to recycle. Later, we published another brochure, entitled End-of-Life Vehicle Voluntary Recycling Initiative, amply demonstrating our aim to use recyclable components and materials to an increasing extent in our products.

A few examples to illustrate the above

(1) Using lead-free paint

In our plants producing cars for the European, Japanese and North American markets, we no longer use paints that contain lead. We will stop using paint that contains lead in all of our plants. We use lead-free paint on all the cars we sell in Europe.

(2) Using lead-free steel in fuel tanks

Instead of fuel tanks coated with lead or tin, we use lead-free tanks in the cars we produce.

Dismantling information

Suzuki provides dismantling information for end-of-life cars on IDIS (International Dismantling Information System).

IDIS contains dismantling information for all of our models. The software makes it possible to simulate dismantling on a computer, and to identify recyclable, metal-free parts. The software is available on CD/DVD-ROM.

The IDIS CD/DVD-ROM contains the following comprehensive information:

• pre-treatment (liquids, batteries, etc.)
• spare part characteristics (material, weight, etc.)
• spare part position
• information on tools for dismantling
• additional information (fixings, pyrotechnics, etc.)

For more information on the system visit www.idis2.com.