It’s mildly startling to learn that the paint department emits most of the pollution generated from an automotive assembly plant, due to the spraying process. There’s overspray; there’s waste; and there’s disposal of the overspray and the waste.

The paint operation at the Chattanooga facility will use an economical dipping

process. It also skips the primer coat and bake-oven step, saving 20 percent on water

and chemical use. Even the top-coat process saves 123,000 gallons of paint

and solvent. In the spraying process, Volkswagen uses a dryscrubber system for less water usage, which is more economical. When spraying the top coat on the car body unit, there will be overspray that doesn’t make it on the unit. Paint that doesn’t make it on the unit is filtered into a limestone powder that can then be used in cement. It’s a much more

efficient system than wet cleaning. Percentage of water and Chemical Savings….20%

Courtesy of Das Auto Magazine