Mercedes-Benz Spain
Vitoria Factory

The Vitoria factory constantly monitors and measures all the parameters involved in certifying its commitment to the environment and its integration into its surrounding area

Environmental Commitment, in Figures

Baseline year: 2013-2014 average

he Vitoria factory carries out exhaustive monitoring of the emissions and consumption parameters that are crucial to its sustainability, allowing it to track its progress and confirm improvements in its activity.

Employee participation

The Environmental Management System and the Energy Management System at the factory engage employees through various instruments:

Proposals for Improvement (PFI). More than 1,000 environmental improvement proposals made.
Environmental and energy improvement workshops and QCCs.
The integration of the social sphere into the factory's environmental and energy management working groups.

At all its european plants the Mercedes-Benz Group has set a goal to reduce CO₂ EQ emissions (scope 1 and 2) by 80% by 2030 (compared to 2018).

CO₂ equivalent emissions

The Mercedes-Benz Group has set a target at all its European plants to reduce CO2 EQ (Scope 2) emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 1992-1994. A 12% reduction in CO2 EQ emissions has been achieved, even though production has increased by more than 400%.

Since 2013 the factory has been using certified renewable electricity (without CO₂ emissions).

In addition, since May 2021 the factory has had photovoltaic panel installation featuring 36kWp of installed power, which in 2022 generated a total of 46MWh.

Measures to reduce CO₂ emissions include energy efficiency measures for natural gas consumption, as well as the purchase of electricity from renewable sources since 2013.

By 2030 Mercedes-Benz has set a target to reduce CO₂> emissions from existing energy consumption by 80% compared to 2018 (Scopes 1 and 2). In 2023 the Vitoria Factory finished defining its decarbonization strategy through 2030, which includes, among others, the following actions:

Designing new decarbonized buildings in accordance with the "Zero Energy Building" standard, using aerothermal or a combination of aerothermal and geothermal for air conditioning.
Production processes of the new fully decarbonized paint shop (electric furnaces, heat pumps, heat recovery systems, etc.).
Analysis of plans for a low-temperature thermal network to take advantage of the surplus heat from the raw assembly and paint warehouses, or to store it in the subsoil to use it at other times of the year.

At the beginning of 2024 the factory submitted an application for the Decarbonization PERTE to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

Moreover, we are carrying out an electrical self-generation project using photovoltaic panels up to 20 MWp.

Solvent emissions

All the actions taken in recent years have managed to reduce solvent emissions (in g/m2) by 46%. The measures implemented include the following:

The robotization of paint application.
The introduction of paints with high solid content.
A decrease in the application of sealants and paint in interiors.
Lower solvent content in products used for sealing.
A solvent management plan to reduce consumption and improve used solvent collection.

Since the base year of 2013-2014, production has doubled while reducing consumption, waste generation and solvent emissions.

Water consumption

Reduced water consumption at the Vitoria factory is a reality. In recent years this consumption has decreased by 46% compared to the average for 2013 and 2014. The plant has taken different measures to save water, such as the use of closed loops and the reuse of washing water to refill the car body pre-treatment baths.

Energy consumption

The factory tracks energy consumption at the process level in detail, automatically calculating the energy performance of more than 200 energy-consuming technologies by comparing their actual and theoretical consumption.

It does so by combining the use of automatic systems to turn off facilities during downtimes with other automatic systems that adjust the setpoints of the facilities based on the type of shift, thus minimizing their energy usage.

The detailed monthly monitoring of consumption and energy efficiency actions implemented in recent years has made it possible to reduce the energy consumed per vehicle at the factory by 48%.

Hazardous waste

The development of an active policy to raise awareness of and minimize hazardous waste has resulted in a 49% reduction in hazardous waste per vehicle produced.

Of note are the following activities:

An increase in the number of rags and robot covers that are sent to be washed instead of being handled as hazardous waste.
Improvements in tracking the expiration dates of rough assembly adhesives.
A reduction in the percentage of moisture in water treatment sludge.
Optimized cleaning of the facilities.

The plant recovers 98% of its hazardous waste and 100% of its non-hazardous waste, increasing total waste recovery by 9%.