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Renault Toughens Up Selection Criteria for eco2 Environmental Signature

Since 1995, Renault has pursued an environmental policy that seeks to factor in environmental impacts at each stage of a vehicle’s life cycle, and not just the emissions factor. The flagships of this drive are the fully-electric Z.E. family, a range of four vehicles set to enter the market by mid-2012. Now, to mark the fourth year of its eco2 environmental signature, the company is toughening up the selection criteria for its vehicles that best blend ecology with economy.

In addition to its commitment to offer a range of electric vehicles for everyday use, Renault is looking to reduce the environmental impacts of its cars at each stage of their life cycle.

Vehicles must now meet these criteria to qualify: be manufactured at an ISO 14001-certified plant; emit less than 120 g/km of CO2 (down from 140 g/km previously) or run on biofuels; contain at least 7% recycled plastic (up from 5% previously) and be designed so that 95% of their mass can be recovered at end-of-life.

The Twingo dCi is easily the leader when it comes to Renualt’s environmental efforts, with CO2 emissions in use reduced by more than 13 percent in two years, from 104 g/km to 90 g/km.

As part of its “Renault 2016 – Drive the Change” plan, the manufacturer has promised to cut its carbon footprint by 10 percent between now and the respective year, plus a further 10 percent between 2013 and 2016. As a result, the company’s European range is expected to lower average emissions from 120 g/km in 2013 to less than 100 g/km in 2016.

“Renault reaped the rewards of this pro-active policy in the recent carbon ranking established by British NGO the Environmental Investment Organization (EIO), in which it came out top as the company in the automotive sector emitting the least CO2 in Europe,” the French carmaker states.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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