Bentley may best be known for its hedonistic land yachts that can cost as much as a house, but lately the carmaker has become increasingly recognized for its environmental efforts. Bentley has already laid out a three-stage plan to reduce emissions of its fleet by 15%, launch new powertrains that deliver a 40% improvement in fuel economy, and introduce flex-fuel models to help deliver a fleet-wide carbon-dioxide emissions average of 120g/km – all by 2012 – but now the team at Crewe are going a step further.

Bentley's chief vehicle developer, Arno Homburg, explained that the carmaker’s new "environmental policy is based on sustainable principles" and that designers take "a holistic view of the whole process".

Starting with its Continental range, Bentley has announced that a substantial 85% of the car is recyclable. Essentially, Bentley now guarantees that other industries will be able to reutilise or otherwise reprocess the vast majority of materials used in the construction of its cars, thus reducing land fill and helping the environment. What the company can't help, however, is the fact that the large majority of Bentley cars are not recycled, but instead remain on the market or get sent to museums and collectors.

It’s estimated that only around 30% of all Bentley models ever built have been sent to the scrap yard, most of them probably not featuring the same 85% of recyclable parts as the current Continental range of cars.