Dear readers, This report describes what Daimler means by ...

Daimler 360 GRAD - FAKTEN zur Nachhaltigkeit 2008
Daimler Nachhaltigkeitsbericht 2008 / Managing sustainability / Environmental management system
Environmental management system
Protecting the environment is a primary objective of the Daimler Group. It is a fixed component of our corporate
strategy with basic objectives defined in the Group’s environmental protection guidelines, which are passed by
the Board of Management and are binding for all of our employees and business locations (see box). A detailed
version of the environmental guidelines is available as a PDF file in the Download Center.
As an automaker we must keep environmental protection in mind throughout the entire lifecycle of our products
- from deliveries by our suppliers to development, logistics, production, sales and utilization, as well as the
disposal or recycling of end-of-life vehicles.
The Group’s environmental protection guidelines
� We face the environmental challenges of the future by working continuously to improve the environmental
performance of our products and operations.
� We strive to develop products which in their respective market segments are highly environmentally
responsible.
� We plan all stages of manufacturing to provide optimal environmental protection.
� We endeavor to achieve exemplary environmental performance worldwide.
� We provide our employees and the public with comprehensive information on environmental protection.
Production-related environmental protection. The certification of all our locations around the world in line with
ISO 14001 and additional validation of our German locations by the EU’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme
(EMAS) are important elements of our environmental management system. The efficacy of the system is regularly
audited by external experts. Today, more than 96 percent of our worldwide workforce is employed in production
facilities with certified environmental management systems.
The merging of the management systems for quality, environmental protection, and occupational health and
safety into a single system is an important goal at Daimler. As a result, environmental protection tasks are being
integrated even more fully into the core functions and processes of the respective units, instead of being dealt
with as separate processes. An integrated concept has already been implemented since 2002 in the production
facilities of Mercedes-Benz Cars around the world.
In addition, our process for evaluating the environmental risks connected with our production facilities
throughout the world helps us to identify environmental risks on the basis of uniform standards, minimize them,
and thus to refine our preventive measures for environmental protection. These audits involve regular and
systematic monitoring and assessment of the location’s environmental management system as well as the key
areas of environmental protection, such as atmospheric emissions, wastewater, waste disposal, and handling of
hazardous materials. Elimination of any existing environmental risks is a component of the target agreements
concluded between the Board of Management and plant managements.
Environmental protection in product development. Vehicle development takes place in a standardized process in
which the vehicle specifications and quality gates (milestones in the development process) form the
cornerstones. Environmental protection issues and requirements (fuel consumption, emissions, prohibited or
prescribed materials, and recycling requirements) are an integral part of the vehicle specifications and are taken
into account and managed throughout the entire product creation process within the framework of the quality
gates.