Porsche vehicles are collectors’ items. However, occasionally, there are rare examples which are unable to withstand the ravages of time and so reach the end of their life. They must then be disposed of and recycled. Planning for this is built into the development phase at Porsche to facilitate the recycling process.

Utilisation of old cars

‘Design for recovery’ initiatives are already being applied in the construction of forthcoming vehicle models. Consideration is given at an early stage to methods of disposing of and recycling components and end-of-life vehicles in an environmentally sustainable way.

Processes for returning and reusing end-of-life vehicles in line with EU requirements have been put in place in conjunction with the Porsche sales organisation. As long ago as 1998, an environmental handbook was issued to the Porsche sales organisation outlining the procedure for dealing with end-of-life vehicles. This handbook is regularly updated to promote ecologically sound recycling, with the information also available to recycling facilities online.

The EU End-of-Life Vehicles Directive, which came into effect in 2006 and stipulates that 85 per cent of new vehicles must be recoverable, was met ahead of schedule by Porsche. In order to achieve a recycling quota of 95 per cent, which will be in place from 2015, we are developing proprietary procedures for handling materials that cannot be reused at present.

We keep Porsche drivers in mind, as well as the environment. That is why it is important to us that our customers also benefit from the development of more environmentally sound vehicles. Systematically deploying state-of-the-art technologies allows us to keep reducing the intervals between services, even though new equipment features are being added all the time. All current models, for example, accommodate long service intervals. In terms of the environment, this means the use of fewer consumables and replacement parts, while customers save both time and money.