It's all about smart alternatives

The smart fortwo is produced at "smartville" in Hambach, France. System partners on site deliver the prefabricated modules directly to the production line. Environmental protection is a high priority in Hambach. For example, only water-soluble paints are used for the smart's three basic colors – black, white and red. Painting the tridion safety cell is performed through a powder-coating process, removing the need for solvents. The body panels with molded-in color are fully recyclable. The smart fortwo is up to 95% recycleable. Parts of the underbody and the inner wheelhouses are produced entirely from recyclates. In addition, the instrument panel is made partly from flax, a renewable raw material.

Protection of the environment is an integral part of all the company's fields of activity. This not only applies to the production facility in Hambach, France - it also applies to the smart fortwo itself, from the development and production of the vehicle to its operational period and later recycling. For this reason, in October 2006, the German Öko-Trend institute for environmental research certified the smart fortwo as offering a high degree of environment friendliness. In addition to fuel consumption and noise and pollutant emissions, ecological criteria from production, procurement, logistics and recycling to environmental management also were included in the assessment.

From its initial conceptualization to today's manufacturing, smart has adhered to strict Daimler AG environmental guidelines in an effort to protect the environment, reduce energy consumption and innovatively preserve our natural resources. Our "eco balance sheet" offers fascinating insights into the future, from the demands on raw materials to a projection of future waste.

Keep your powder dry

The entire vehicle bodywork of smart is powder coated rather than painted. Powder coating uses 40% less energy than conventional painting methods with zero solvent emissions and no water consumption. Powder "overspray" is collected and is 98% reusable. This is a great example of eco-friendly solutions that also provide excellent finish quality.

Facility energy

If you are truly eco-friendly, your attitude stretches beyond the product itself to everything you do. In our smartville production center, we have analyzed and increased the thermal insulation of our buildings to minimize heat loss. We collect the excess heat generated from our injection molding machines to heat our paint booths. We even have our own natural gas fired thermal energy station that supplies our hot water and some of our electricity. Environmentally sound buildings, intelligent people, technologically advanced car.

Waste not, want not

We are fanatics on waste. Yes, we like recycling, but our initial thought is to always avoid the waste in the first place. So we work with our suppliers to source our parts in returnable containers. And when waste is unavoidable we don't stop there - we grade it, collect it, analyze it and recycle it.