ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF AUTOMOTIVE PARTS PRODUCED FROM SUSTAINABLE RAW MATERIALS

Abstract

The paper presents the results of studies carried out in a car assembly plant with a view to making viable the use of car seats that utilize coconut fiber instead of polyurethane foam. Despite the environmental and social advantages described in the text, the mechanisms of cost evaluation, based on internal numbers, showed the economic unfeasibility of using sustainable products. Throughout the text, there is a report of the methodology followed, which allowed us to show the feasibility of the product projected to be environmental-friendly. The methodology presupposes a revision in the design of the products in such a way as to reduce the cost of sustainable products, the verification of all the costs during the life cycle of the product, incorporating the most evident to its cost, which will make the greater cost of the pollutant product throughout its life cycle more apparent. The methodology also suggests the cost correction of the pollutant products, by government organs, based on measuring the impact of tangible factors such as maintenance costs of sanitary landfills, costs of cleaning effluents, among others.