Valeo Canopy™

To make Canopy wiper blade more sustainable, Valeo teams worked on three approaches:

• Reduction of the use of oil-based materials through:
  • Use of renewable materials not usually used, such as natural rubber, vegetable oils, sugar cane
  • Increased use of recycled materials* (up to 15% in Complete Canopy wiper blade compared to 0% in usual wiper blades), such as carbon black from recycled tires, recycled metal, recycled plastics.
  • Increased use of “Natural” non-fossil materials such as calcium oxide and Silica (5% of Canopy rubber compound)

• Reduction of the “carbon footprint”, with 61% savings on CO2 emissions, thanks to:
  wiper blade and packaging assembly (France)
  Material selected from sustainable sources (Natural rubber from PEFC certified rubber plantations)

• Use of a fully recyclable packaging made from more than 90% recycled cardboard material

The project development has been set around the following milestones:

• Analysis of materials used in current Valeo Premium wiper blades and packaging + brainstorming on how to reduce “carbon footprint”
• Set up of 4 dedicated project teams (Advanced Development projects, R&D, Quality, Purchasing, Marketing)
• Ideas and actions to reduce the use of (i) oil-based materials and (ii) carbon footprint in rubber, metal, plastic and packaging
• Development and validation of the new rubber compound using less virgin oil-based materials
• Investigation with new suppliers of raw material and validation of new plastic including up to 50% recycled materials
• Investigation and validation of recycled cardboard materials used for packaging

Bureau Veritas, one world's leading certification bodies, validated statement: "The new Valeo CANOPY FlatBlade range with the new Valeo specific rubber packaged in cardboard box enables a CO2e emission reduction of 525 g per wiper blade (=-61%)* vs. a Valeo Flat Blade range produced in Asia with synthetic rubber and packaged in plastic sleeves."

* weighted average based on LCAs (Scope 1,2 and 3 upstream) done on 3 wiper blade lengths =350mm, 600mm and 750mm.

• Valeo Canopy wipers use a more sustainable rubber compound made of over 80% natural, renewable or recycled materials. Out of 80%, the rubber includes 56% of renewable materials, 19% of recycled materials and 5% of natural/mineral materials.
• Valeo Canopy wiper blades show an increased use of natural renewable or recycled materials offering both a durable and excellent wiping quality. A standard Valeo Multi-connection wiper blade made in Asia uses a rubber compound made with less than 3% sustainable material when the rubber compound used for Canopy wiper blade is made with over 80% sustainable materials (56% renewable materials, 19% recycled materials and 5% natural materials). To assess and validate the wiping efficiency, Valeo has defined a round of tests for all wiper ranges. These standard tests (through hundred of cycles) have been performed on Canopy range to measure the wiping performance in real conditions: Initial Wipe Quality, Durability, Slam Down Test, Ozone Resistance, Chemical Resistance, Permanent Set, Noisiness. These tests confirm that Valeo Canopy has the same wiping performance as other Valeo premium ranges.

Valeo Canopy wipers are manufactured and packed in Valeo's wiper blade plants in France to limit transportation and CO2 emissions. The global transportation for a standard Valeo Multi-connection wiper blade made in Asia (from raw material supply to the delivery at Valeo central warehouse in France) represents 30.2g of CO2 emisssions while the global transportation for a Canopy wiper blade manufactured and packed in France (from raw material supply to the delivery to the same central warehouse) represents 15.2g of CO2 emissions.

• Valeo Canopy wiper blades offers a premium wiping performance. To assess and validate the wiping efficiency, Valeo has defined a round of tests for all wiper ranges. These standard tests (through hundred of cycles) have been performed on Canopy range to measure the wiping performance in real conditions: Initial Wipe Quality, Durability, Slam Down Test, Ozone Resistance, Chemical Resistance, Permanent Set, Noisiness. Valeo concluded that Valeo Canopy has the same wiping performance as other Valeo premium ranges.

• The life cycle analysis carried out by Valeo and verified by Bureau Veritas shows -61% CO₂ emissions compared with a traditional Valeo wiper made in Asia. The comparison is done based on the Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) performed by VALEO on the 2 products and provided by the client. The LCAs have been made with the same hypothesis and database.

The verification is done in 5 steps:

1. Review of the LCAs according to ISO 14040 « Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework » and ISO 14044 « Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines »
2. Verification according to ISO 14067 "Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products — Requirements and guidelines for quantification” of the Carbon Footprint (CFP) value provided by the LCA
3. Comparison of the CFP value also considering the uncertainty of the calculation (compliant with Annex B of ISO 14067)
4. Verification of the reduction of material by mass measurement
5. Verification of the Significant Environmental Aspect according to ISO 14040
   
   The new Valeo CANOPY FlatBlade range with the new Valeo specific rubber packaged in cardboard box enables a CO₂e emission reduction of 525 g per wiper blade (=-61%)* vs. a Valeo Flat Blade range produced in Asia with synthetic rubber and packaged in plastic sleeves.

* weighted average based on Life Cycle Analysis (Scope 1,2 and 3 upstream) done on 3 wiper blade lengths =350mm, 600mm and 750mm.

What is Life Cycle Assessment?

Resulting from the requirement of sustainable development, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an evaluation method recognized by ISO standards since 1997 and allows to quantify the environmental impacts of a product, a service or process.

The use of cardboard packaging for Valeo Canopy wiper blades is part of Valeo Service "I Care 4 the Planet" strategy to reduce the use of single-use plastic in packaging. Valeo Canopy packaging is made with more than 90% recycled cardboard materials, printed with water-based inks (solvent-free) and fully recyclable.