BMW 2001 Annual Report Download - page 25

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001 BMW Group in figures
004 Report of the Supervisory Board
008 Supervisory Board
011 Board of Management
012 Group Management Report
029 BMW Stock
033 Group Financial Statements
098 BMW AG Financial Statements
104 BMW Group Annual Comparison
106 BMW Group Locations
108 Glossary
112 Index
account in their decisions. Suppliers to BMW pro-
duction plants abroad are also required to commit
themselves to adopting the strict principles applica-
ble in the BMW Group. In addition, the BMW Group
ran workshops in 2001 to communicate specific rec-
ommendations and know-how in this area. A joint
initiative was also started in South Africa by BMW
SA, DaimlerChrysler SA and Volkswagen SA with
the aim of providing more active assistance to com-
mon suppliers to improve environmental manage-
ment systems.
During the year, the Sustainability Management
System (SMS) of Designworks, Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia, a BMW Group subsidiary, was certified by ex-
ternal experts, the first certification of this kind in the
world. This sustainability management system is
seen by the BMW Group as a prototype for the
further development of existing environmental man-
agement systems.
Sustainability is also the basis of BMWs ap-
proach to the recycling process. The BMW Group is
not only actively involved in environmentally compat-
ible methods of recycling end-of life vehicles, but
has also incorporated the requirements of the De-
sign for Recycling concept into the product devel-
opment process. Benefits can be seen already in all
of the vehicles produced by the BMW Group: many
of the plastic components used in the X5, for exam-
ple, are designed so that they can be dismantled
quickly into homogenous materials.
Innovative ideas also result in more economical
ways of recycling materials. In the BMW 3 Series
compact, for example, the time needed to remove
polyurethane foam has again been reduced. After
extraction of the foam material, it can be re-
processed to make sound insulation components
which are used in many other vehicles currently
manufactured by the BMW Group. Another example
of the progress made with the concept of Design
for Recycling is the rear ventilation system of the
new BMW 7 Series. This system is not only easy to
dismantle and conducive to efficient separation of
materials into homogenous types, but can, itself, be
manufactured almost completely with recycled
materials, in other words from plastics previously
used in the manufacturing process. A whole host of
measures along these lines allow the vehicle to be
recycled/disposed of at a later date as efficiently as
possible. In its approach to recycling of materials,
the BMW Group is well prepared for the introduction
of the E.U. end-of life vehicle directive, which re-
quires manufacturers to take back their products
free of charge after 2007.
BMW Group presents a Sustainable Value
Report
The growing number of sustainability investments
on offer shows that tackling future economic, social
and ecological problems proactively can result in
lasting and above-average growth in the value of the
Energy consumed per unit produced
in MWh
4.50
4.25
4.00
3.75
3.50
3.25
3.00
2.75
97 98 99 00 01
3.76
3.56 3.42
3.16 3.08
CO2emissions per unit produced
in tons
1.25
1.20
1.15
1.10
1.05
1.00
0.95
0.90
97 98 99 00 01
1.16 1.14
1.10
1.04
0.99