VWSA Kariega Plant Driving Practical And Sustainable Mobility Forward

By Zimkhita Kweza

It is no secret that the automotive world has not been historically linked to sustainability and environmental preservation. Rather the opposite has been true with the transport industry reportedly contributing 14% to the world’s greenhouse emissions. On top of the fact that most vehicles require already strained fossil fuels to operate, the production process makes use of large amounts of energy, metals, plastics and toxins, all contributing towards creating a large carbon footprint.

However, a recent survey by SAP and Oxford Economics found that executives are beginning to close the gap between goal setting and taking meaningful actions to increase sustainability in their supply chain processes. The survey speaks on the shifting of attitudes and maturing views with regards to sustainability in the product making process and VWSA is a perfect example of this shifting of gears!

VWSA Kariega Plant

The Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) plant is located in Kariega, an industrial town around 750 km east of Cape Town and 1 000 km south of Johannesburg. With over 3 500 employees, VWSA is the largest private employer in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro where it is located. The plant, which has been building Volkswagens since 1951, stretches over 518 378m² and produces 710 vehicles per day. Apart from manufacturing engines, the Kariega plant currently builds the Polo Vivo and Polo and is the sole manufacturer of the Polo GTI.

Sustainability Initiatives

In order to reduce their environmental footprint in the Kariega Plant, VWSA has implemented multiple projects to reduce their reliance on municipal fresh water, and electricity, reduce their carbon emissions and divert waste from landfill. The corporation’s goal is to achieve a Zero Impact status across all their sites by 2050.

Wastewater Recycling

As part of their “Zero Water Roadmap”, a wastewater recycling facility has been constructed which recycles production-related wastewater from various production areas, for reuse in certain production processes. The project aims to reduce freshwater use at the Kariega site by up to 26%, relevant practice in times of growing water scarcity.

The company says that rainwater harvesting has also become an integral part of the efforts to decrease municipal water usage. The first of a series of rainwater harvesting projects, having 200kl in storage and automated distribution to multiple use-areas, was implemented in 2022. 2 393 kl of rainwater has been used within the last year.

Solar panels

Decarbonisation is one of the company’s key objectives and the corporation says it is determined to become 100% carbon-neutral in production operations by 2030. In 2022 the company installed a total of 3 136 solar photovoltaic panels, which generate 1.5 MW of renewable, carbon-neutral energy. The panels, installed on the roof of the Final Assembly building, reduces VWSA’s carbon emissions by an estimated 2 500 tons of carbon dioxide per year. At full capacity, the panels produce an estimated 2 500 MWh per annum, producing enough energy to cover between 3% and 3.5% of the plant’s electricity requirements. Further renewable energy projects are in the pipeline.

Plastic use reduction

Production Director at VWSA, Ulrich Schwabe says that plastic pollution is increasingly becoming a point of concern and that the company is on a quest to get suppliers and customers to rethink plastic usage and disposal.

“We are striving to reduce plastic waste and we are working with our employees and suppliers on finding solutions to reduce plastic packaging in which our parts are shipped by at least 5% by the end of 2023,” added Schwabe.

Since January this year (2023) VWSA has already reduced plastic packaging by more than nine tons. “We continue to work with suppliers to find alternative packaging and further reduce once off plastic usage without compromising the protection of our parts,” said Schwabe.

Diverting waste from landfill is one of several initiatives which VWSA drives to improve the overall environmental performance. Overall, the company is reporting 23% less waste sent to landfills in 2022 and has recycled 94.6% of its waste within the same year.

Commitment to preservation of Biodiversity

In 2021 VWSA embarked on an ongoing bio-diversity roadmap, starting with a project to replace alien plants and trees within the Kariega premises with indigenous, water-wise plants. On Earth Day 2021 VWSA planted Spekbooms in the shape of the company logo which spans over 1 600m² at the facility in Kariega. Spekbooms are known for its ability to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide. Once fully grown, this logo could absorb up to 2, 5 tons of CO2 per year. In 2022 over 4800 additional Spekbooms were planted at their Kariega sites, including a “carbon bank”, as well as at schools within the local community.

Boasting over 53% improved natural resource efficiency and reduced environmental impact since 2010, it is no surprise that VWSA has taken first prize in the Eastern Cape Exporter of the Year’s environmental award for 3 years running.