SEAT claims to have reached a peak of efficiency in car production in 2023, scoring what the company says are the best sustainability results in its history.
Direct impact
Overall, SEAT says that since 2010, it has reduced the environmental impact of its production at factories in Martorell, Barcelona and El Prat by 53 per cent. SEAT also says that it has, in the last year, also implemented wellness and diversity programmes that had a direct impact on the entire workforce, in addition to strengthening the governance structure.
“Sustainability is a key pillar of SEAT’s corporate strategy and is at the heart of the transformation process we are undergoing towards electrification,” explained Markus Haupt, Executive Vice-President for Production and Logistics at SEAT. “We aimed to reduce the environmental impact in the specific area of production by 50 per cent by 2025, something we have already achieved. We are now moving forward to achieve carbon neutrality at our facilities by 2040, in line with the Volkswagen Group's strategy.”
100 per cent renewable electricity
SEAT says that the use of oil at its factories has been reduced by 33 per cent compared to 2010, while 100 per cent of the electricity at its plants has been drawn from renewable sources since 2012. Thanks to that, overall carbon emissions from the factories have been reduced by 69 per cent compared to 2010’s figures.
The three factories are located in the Catalonian region, which has been suffering a severe drought in recent months, so it helps that SEAT has reduced its water usage by 45 per cent. It’s also working on trimming that further still by using more water recycling processes. The latest indicators focus on waste generation, which is sent to treatment facilities for disposal, and solvent emissions. Both have been reduced by 78 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively, since 2010.
In terms of electricity supply, the company has recently launched a new project called SEAT at Sol 2, which will see 39,000 solar panels on a surface area of 233,000 square metres installed in Martorell, El Prat and Barcelona and will generate 29 gigawatts per hour (GWh), tripling SEAT’s renewable energy self-generation capacity.
Saving 2,500-tonnes of CO2
In 2023, SEAT started the installation of the Volkswagen Group’s first 100 per cent electric paint drying oven in Martorell, which has recently come into operation. It is said to be a highly efficient solution that minimises heat loss and reduces energy consumption by 25 per cent, which means claimed savings of 2,500 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to more than 550 combustion cars running for a year.
Ecological improvements are great, but SEAT is also working to improve the well-being of its employees. In 2023, among other initiatives, a new Equality Plan was approved, which includes more than 60 measures that promote and consolidate diversity and inclusion. These incorporate a new protocol against sexual harassment and harassment based on sex, gender orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression in the workplace. There’s also a company health plan called CARS (Health Care and Rehabilitation Centre), which helps to look after both physical and mental well-being.
Equally, SEAT is planning for the future with increased training; last year, it offered more than 100,000 hours of training opportunities to its workforce, providing the necessary skills to address current and future challenges. The goal is to reach 500,000 hours of training for all staff.