Click on the individual stages in the information graphic on the left to learn more about the ecological and social risks when purchasing vehicles.

Vehicle production requires various raw materials – irrespective of the type of powertrain. This includes leather for upholstery and rubber for tyres, but above all numerous metals that are used in varying quantities for the chassis, on-board electronics system, batteries or catalytic converters. The extraction of these raw materials is linked to a large number of environmental, social and human rights risks. Examples include:

Environmental risks

• Waste, toxic and residual substances that contaminate the air, soil and water
• Release of radioactive substances on extracting rare earth elements (REEs)
• Emission of greenhouse gases and nitrous oxide 
• High energy consumption 
• High water consumption
• Risk of breached dams 
• Loss of land and increasing deforestation
• Negative impacts on biodiversity

Social risks

• The extraction and trading of minerals funds conflicts/armed groups ('conflict minerals') 
• People are driven from their homes, cropland and livestock pastures 
• Industrial equipment generates noise and vibration; intensive use of heavy-duty vehicles churns up dust 
• Corruption and tax evasion
• Violent suppression of protests
• Human trafficking, forced and child labour 
• Violation of the right to free assembly and the right to collective bargaining 
• Lack of occupational safety and insufficient safety standards  

Further information (in German):

• Amnesty International (2020): Vor Gericht: Shell und sein Umgang mit Menschenrechten
• Romero Initiative (2017): Mexiko: Gewaltrohstoffe für Deutschlands Industrie?
• Global Nature Fund und Südwind (2019): Naturkautschuk in der Lieferkette. Wie Unternehmen Nachhaltigkeitsprobleme erkennen und lösen können
• PowerShift (2019): Landraub für deutsche Autos. Wie ein Bergbaukonzern beim Bauxit-Abbau in Guinea Menschenrechte verletzt
• Tagesschau.de (2020): Abholzung für Autoleder

Raw materials processing entails environmental risks and labour-related hazards. Examples include:

Environmental risks

• Waste, toxic and residual substances that contaminate the air, soil and water
• Emission of greenhouse gases and nitrous oxide 
• High energy consumption
• High water consumption
• Loss of land and increasing deforestation
• Negative impacts on biodiversity 

Social risks

• The extraction and trading of minerals funds conflicts/armed groups ('conflict minerals')  
• People are driven from their homes, cropland and livestock pastures 
• Industrial equipment generates noise and vibration; intensive use of heavy-duty vehicles churns up dust 
• Corruption and tax evasion 
• Violation of the right to free assembly and the right to collective bargaining 
• Workers are underpaid
• Lack of occupational safety and insufficient safety standards  

Outsourcing the production of automotive parts across an internationalised value chainsaves the automotive industry money. This also fuels the much-decried 'race to the bottom'. Production is often cheapest in places where respect for human rights and compliance with social and environmental standards are at their lowest. Examples of negative impacts include:

Environmental risks

• High emissions (CO, CO₂, NO_x, SO₂) 
• High energy consumption (battery cell manufacturing makes an electric vehicle more energy intensive to produce than a combustion-driven car; however, what really matters is whetherthe production sites favour the use of renewables) 
• High materials consumption (ferrous and non-ferrous metals, other mineral raw materials, natural raw materials, plastics etc.)​
• High water consumption
• High volumes of wastewater 
• Production of hazardous and non-hazardous waste
• VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions
• Toxic substances and residues along with particulate matter and dust that pollute soils and water

Social risks

• Violation of the right to free assembly and the right to collective bargaining 
• Workers are underpaid
• Limited-term contracts: temporary work, no leave entitlement, (unpaid) overtime
• Poor safety standards
• Health problems due to lack of lighting and ventilation, especially in production rooms
• Inconsistent auditing of suppliers' sustainability standards 

Further information

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (2018): Business & human rights snapshot: Automotive sector
• Forum Umwelt & Entwicklung (2020): Autokorrektur. Eine Schlüsselbranche hat sich verfahren (in German)
• Zhang Lu (2018): Arbeitskämpfe in Chinas Autofabriken. mandelbaum Verlag (in German)

A vehicle's service life and powertrain are the main determinants of its ecological footprint. The types and quantities of vehicular emissions depend on how the vehicle is powered (petrol, diesel, electricity, plug-in hybrid, hydrogen) but also on its weight and the speed at which it is driven. Passenger and goods transport are responsible for many negative environmental and social impacts, including: 

Environmental risks

• High energy consumption, irrespective of fuel type
• Combustion engines: high CO₂ emissions
• Combustion engines: high nitrogen oxide emissions (NO and NO₂), which are harmful to human health and the environment in high concentrations
• Combustion engines: high particulate pollution 
• Ground sealed for roads and parking spaces

Social risks

• Road fatalities as well as human and animal injuries sustained in road accidents
• Road traffic noise from vehicle engines and tyre-road emissions are stress factors for health    
• Cars are afforded infrastructural and tax-related privileges; other means of transport are not(public transport, bikes, walking).

Further information (in German):

• Deutsche Umwelthilfe (2020): Verkehr
• Greenpeace (2020): Zeit für eine klimaschonende Verkehrswende. Fahrplan zur Dekarbonisierung des europäischen Verkehrssektors bis zum Jahr 2040
• Umweltbundesamt (2020): Endenergieverbrauch und Energieeffizienz des Verkehrs
• Umweltbundesamt (2020): Emissionen des Verkehrs
• Umweltbundesamt (2020): Umweltbelastungen durch Verkehr
•  

End-of-life vehicles (ELVs) are an important source of secondary raw materials (SRMs). It is thus critical that they are recycled and their components and materials reintroduced into the circular economy. In Germany, compliance with the EU's recycling and reuse quotas is regulated by the End-of-Life Vehicle Ordinance. 
At municipal level, support can be directed to collection points and recycling plants whose recovery operations are particularly environmentally friendly. The same applies to research institutes operating in this sector. Support is also required to increase the recycling quotas of plastics, vehicle glass and also precious metals used in automotive electrical systems. Raw materials recycling should also be built into e-vehicle battery design. Furthermore, in theirso-called 'second life', batteries can be used as stationary energy storage systems.

Environmental risks

• Environmental hazards due to the improper disposal of lead from batteries, coolants from A/C systems, brake fluid and engine and gear oils
• Inadequate recycling results in the permanent loss of plastics, vehicle glass and also precious metals used in automotive electronics 
• Export of environmentally dangerous and dirty used vehicles from Europe to Africa
• Many raw materials lost forever if car wrecks are exported to states that lack the corresponding recycling capacity

Further information (in German):

• Deutschlandfunk (2020): Afrika als Europas Autoschrottplatz
• Umweltbundesamt (2020): Altauto, Altautoverwertung
• Umweltbundesamt (2020): Altfahrzeugverwertung und Fahrzeugverbleib

Iron ore mined in Brazil, bauxite extracted in Guinea, copper from Peru; produced in Hungary, Mexico and China; driven on roads in Germany with oil from Iraq and Iran. This is an example of what a vehicle production and consumption supply chain might look like. Getting from raw materials extraction to the finished product generally entails long transport distances by ship, truck and train. Fuel consumption and emissions negatively impact theenvironment and stress the climate in a way that is also harmful to human health. Transport with heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks is regulated by the Euro 6 emissions standard (Commission Regulation EU/582/2011), and procurers should demand compliance. From an environmental point of view, regionalising production makes sense in that it does away with the need to haul product components over long-distances.