2000 Saab 9-3 Owner's Manual - Page 205

Car care Inspect the undercoating and touch up if necessary. Pay particular attention to the fenders and wheel housings, which are exposed to abrasion by flying gravel, etc. If the composition has worn or flaked off, the steel must be thoroughly cleaned and dried before a fresh coat is applied. The cleaning is best done with a scraper and a steel wire brush, followed by washing with solvent. Apply the new coating thinly, otherwise it may run off or fall off when dry. 205 Recovery and/or recycling of automotive materials A typical car consists of metals (65-75%), plastics (10-14%), rubber (5%) and small quantities of glass, wood, paper and textiles. Some of these materials can be recycled, while others can be recovered in chemical processes for reuse in new products or as a source of energy. While the Saab 9-3 was still at the drawing-board stage, Saab engineers were giving serious consideration to how the maximum quantity of materials could be reclaimed from the car on its eventual scrapping. To facilitate sorting, plastic parts, for instance, have been marked to identify the precise nature of the plastic. Approximately 90% of the materials in the car can be recycled or recovered, where facilities exist. Before the car is scrapped, all the oils and other fluids that could pollute the environment should be recovered from the car. It may be of interest in this context to learn that the refrigerant used in the Saab 9-3's A/C and ACC systems (R134a) contains neither CFCs nor any other chlorine compounds