Page 539 - Solid Waste Analysis and Minimization a Systems Approach

EXEMPLARY PERFORMERS—EUROPEAN EMPLOYEE AWARD PROGRAMS 517

plant in Pamplona, since this international participation underscores the global signif-
icance of environmental issues. The spectrum ranged from product development to
production, with the personal commitment of our employees going well beyond the
normal course of duty,” Günter Damme, environmental management officer at the
Volkswagen brand, commented in Wolfsburg in 2008. He added that this commitment
was important in order to successfully establish environmental protection in a company
such as Volkswagen. “Employees in all sections of the company must bring environ-
mental protection to life. This year’s award winners and their ideas ranging from clean
TDI technology through cutting down on packaging material to reworking reject pis-
ton rods set a marvelous example,” Günter Damme said.
The first prize for the 2008 internal environmental award, which is presented in the
production and the product categories, went to the production department at the
Pamplona plant in Spain. Pablo Romero Zalba, who works in body construction and is
responsible for material supplies, came up with his own idea for developing and build-
ing a device for using the residual adhesive contained in the barrels delivered to the plant.
His idea not only saved resources, but also reduced special waste by 5800 kg annually.
Second prize went to Holger Jerzewski from Brunswick, who devised a method for
treating blued piston rods with a solvent-free cold cleaning agent so that these rods can
be used rather than going to scrap. This simple method brings annual cost savings of
around 120,000 Euros.
The third prize went to Andreas Kwiecinski and Holger Eigenbrod from Kassel;
they work in the hardening shop and are responsible for the repair and maintenance of
the hardening furnaces. Their idea optimizes furnace insulation and uses a thicker
insulating material, thus reducing the size of the furnace combustion chamber and
slashing gas consumption. The idea also lowers CO emissions.
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In the production category, two employees were honored for their long-standing
commitment to environmental protection. Since 1999, Juan–A. Ferreiro da Silva from
Hanover has shown enormous personal commitment to optimizing paint applications.
He helped to cut solvent consumption by approximately 2 million kg since 1999.
Michael Hübscher from the Wolfsburg plant has been an expert in environmental pro-
tection since 1994 and has coordinated and monitored the use of all chemicals for
hardening and galvanizing applications in prototype construction. He has shown great
initiative in implementing numerous environment-related projects over the years.
First prize in the product category went to Matthias Leifheit, Jörg Worm, Uwe
Behlendorf, and Christian Eigen for the development of the natural gas-powered
Passat TSI-CNG. All four showed considerable initiative going well beyond their proj-
ect remit in developing a power train concept featuring a turbocharged engine fuelled
by natural gas. This twin-charging technology has given Volkswagen a head start in
realizing a CNG engine with optimum consumption and performance characteristics.
Moreover, the significantly lower weight brought by fitting thin-walled gas tanks has
brought CO emissions down to 129 g/km. This low value contributes to cutting fleet
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CO emissions.
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The second prize in this category went to Steffen Hunkert and his team from diesel
engine development; they used intelligent engine control to optimize the interaction
between performance, consumption, and emissions, thus lowering fuel consumption.