Sustainability is one of the main areas of work for many manufacturers today, maybe not yet to the same level as electrification, but it is usually part of the manufacturer’s plan the desired carbon neutrality, gradually imposed by the legislator.

At Dacia, we are also working on this, and not because the cars are cheap, the sustainability aspect has been left out. In recent years, the Romanian manufacturer has revolutionized its supply chain, first at its factory in Tangier and now in development of a new innovative material “Sparkle”.

This, in particular, was explained by Damien Laplan, director of the Cross Carline company, during the Dacia Talks held in Rome on Tuesday, February 7.

Sustainable development as a priority

It all started with the factory in Tangier, which became 100% carbon-free thanks to major investments that enabled the implementation of several processes to produce electricity in an ecologically clean way and recycle waste water.

This has gradually spread to products where Dacia has worked particularly hard on weight (the Dacia Jogger weighs around 200kg less than a competitor’s car), resulting in a reduction in overall CO2 emissions.₂.

New recycled materials

And the path to carbon neutrality does not end there. As predicted by the Manifesto concept car, Dacia presented a new innovative Sparkle material, new generation plastic made from 20% waste. This material will soon come to standard Dacia models from the next generation Duster.

20% doesn’t sound like a lot, but at Dacia’s scale, these numbers take on a whole new meaning. For example, one ton less plastic save about 830 kg of oil and avoid emissions of about one ton of CO₂. Thus, recycled plastic will soon equip the salons of new Dacias, as well as some exterior elements.