With a global economy, comes increased complexity from additional regulatory requirements beyond the country of design and/or manufacture. While traditionally these requirements have been safety-related, there is an increasing volume of environmental requirements being added to the mix. Examples include hazardous materials and End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) requirements emanating from the European Community and various US states. The ELV directive requires that Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) assume responsibility for taking back a vehicle at the end of its useful life, specifies the percentage of a vehicle that must be reusable/recyclable, and provides a timeline for incorporation. Identification of materials in all components is being requested, as is the use of the International Material Data System (IMDS) in a manufacturer's tracking process. While OEMs and suppliers are expected to bear the brunt of the costs of these actions, many markets lack an infrastructure to facilitate these recycling actions. This paper presents an overview of environmental regulations and directives as they affect automotive cockpits. The engineer must ensure that their design effectively meets all applicable requirements. The complexity and sheer volume of the approaching regulation is driving organizations to look for innovative ways to ensure that design engineers have the latest regulations and interpretations, and the tools and abilities to understand them. It is our hope that this overview will help organizations recognize the oncoming challenge and implement the appropriate organizational actions to enable them to stay abreast of existing, new, and developing regulations and directives.
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