MILAN – “Triple Action to Zero”: at the Milan Design Week, the slogan that accompanies Honda’s latest strategy in terms of sustainability resonates among the various claims of the numerous car manufacturers taking part in the event. It describes three phases, namely carbon neutrality, clean energy and circularity of resources, which will make the Japanese company “friendly” to the environment, allowing it to eliminate CO2 emissions not only from its vehicles but also from all activities by 2050. corporate.
To achieve the coveted objective, among the solutions being studied by the manufacturer is that of using materials obtained by recycling car parts in the production of cars and motorbikes. Such as, for example, damaged or end-of-life light clusters, transformed into acrylic resin and subsequently into external panels for bodywork that do not require painting, allowing CO2 emissions to be reduced by up to 45% during production processes, and which boast its characteristics include high resistance to atmospheric agents, as well as the ability to return to its original shape following minor impacts.
The SUSTAINA-C Concept prototypes and the Pocket Concept scooter, exhibited by Honda during the days of the fair in the Lombardy city in a dedicated stand in the “Garden of Ideas” of Vanity Fair inside the Diocesan Museum of Piazza Sant’Eustorgio, were built using the innovative technology, capable among the advantages of generating truly unique aesthetic effects.
They have a marbled bodywork, marked by black and white veins, with the exception of some completely transparent parts: including the tailgate of the SUSTAINA-C Concept which integrates a mini-LED display and allows the car to communicate with other road users via messages of text or images.
At Design Week, Honda also shows the SH125 “Vetro”. Built in the industrial plant of Atessa (Italy), it is a special edition of the famous two-wheeled best seller “dressed” on the outside with distinctive semi-transparent green covers whose manufacturing allows for a 9.5% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to to traditional painted fairings.
“SUSTAINA-C Concept, Pocket Concept and SH125i Vetro represent the change we intend to make as we accelerate Honda’s transition from a business model based on mass consumption to a business model based on circularity,” said Victoria Friend, Head of Product Compliance & Sustainability of Honda Motor Europe. “This obviously cannot happen overnight, but by identifying small actions we can take today we will be able to implement measures with an ever greater impact and achieve carbon neutrality in all our products and our business activities by 2050”.