In a bid to reduce its environmental footprint and ensure compliance with the European End of Life Vehicles Directive, automobile manufacturer Continental plans to reduce the lead content in some of its electronic components. Goals for an immediate reduction outlined in a plan of action submitted to the Lower Saxony 
Ministry for the Environment, Energy, Construction and Climate Protection in Germany are augmented by a voluntary commitment to reduce lead quantities in electronic components beyond statutory requirements.
Continental has acknowledged a slight excess of lead in some components, most of which have been delivered since 2016 and reported to the authorities at the beginning of June 2019.
The use of lead in electronic components is subject to different upper limits depending on the date of type approval of the vehicle. In Continental’s case, this concerns a noncompliant amount of lead averaging approximately 0.0003 grams per affected component. Vehicle handling, emissions and safety are not affected by the use of the affected components, and the potentially noncompliant quantities of lead are recovered together with the legally permissible proportions in the recycling process. According to the company’s calculations and preliminary assessments by neutral bodies, an additional entry of 0.00031% of lead in relation to the basic environmental burden is realistically accrued at recycling plants in Germany.
Continental procures approximately 51,000 different electronic components per year. The company has now undertaken to design all components in the future in accordance with the limit values of the End of Life Vehicles Directive. This applies regardless of whether higher limit values apply to components or vehicles. In this way, Continental is helping to reduce the amount of lead in components far beyond the legal requirements. This measure applies worldwide and independently of the scope of the End of Life Vehicles Directive, which regulates the disposal and recycling of motor vehicles within the European Union.
