How material loops can be closed for cars
Closed material loops are crucial for protecting our planet. Returning materials at the end of a long and useful first life into such loops is essential. Plastics are particularly suitable for this and play an important role in many industries and applications, such as the automotive industry.
According to the European Recycling Industries Confederation, an average car consists of about 12-15 percent plastics, which corresponds to around 150-200 kilograms. Some of these plastics come from Covestro. To close the loop here, the company has therefore launched several projects for so-called car-to-car plastics recycling. Guido Naberfeld, Head of Sales and Market Development Mobility at Covestro, summarizes.
Dear Guido, why is Covestro so interested in closed loops in the automotive industry?
"Our main goal is to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of a closed-loop system for plastics in the automotive industry, thereby making the sector more sustainable. Together with partners from the entire value chain - from automotive manufacturers to recycling companies - we aim to identify challenges and develop potential solutions. This should result in recommendations for political measures and industry standards in relation to car-to-car recycling."
Which specific plastics and applications are currently in focus?
"We are currently focusing on various processes: For example, through mechanical recycling of car headlights, we recover post-consumer recycled (PCR) polycarbonate, which we use in polycarbonate and polycarbonate blends that meet stringent automotive requirements. Our customers then use these to manufacture new vehicle components. Additionally - and this is a completely new approach - we are working with partners on the chemical recycling of old tires. In doing so, we recover certain raw materials that can be turned back into optically high-quality polycarbonates for headlights."
How exactly does it work with car headlights? How are they turned back into new material?
"If we stay with the example of mechanical recycling, it works as follows: First, the old headlights are removed from cars that are to be scrapped, and the parts such as lens, housing or cover lens, which are entirely or predominantly made of polycarbonate (PC), are separated. These plastic parts are then forwarded to a recycling company like Ausell, with whom we recently expanded our collaboration.
At Ausell, the polycarbonate is processed. The plastic components are first stripped of any coatings, thoroughly washed, mechanically recycled by being shredded, and then processed into high-quality plastic granulate. This recycled material then reaches us and is blended with new material in a process called compounding to achieve the desired properties for the end product. Typically, we offer products with 35 percent or 50 percent recycled content for the automotive industry.
This 'compound' – a type of polycarbonate granulate with recycled content – is then delivered to automotive suppliers or OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)."
Why is car-to-car recycling currently a hot topic? Couldn't the materials to be recycled also come from other sources?
"A major advantage of car-to-car recycling is that we can access a relatively pure source of plastic material as it comes directly from end-of-life vehicles. Unlike mixed waste streams, which are often difficult to recycle, we are dealing with a clearly defined type of plastic here, making the process more efficient. These plastics will therefore definitely not become waste that ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Instead, we reuse them as raw materials, thereby reducing the need for new fossil raw materials and lowering overall CO2 emissions, as fewer new plastics need to be produced.
Additionally, new political regulations are further increasing the relevance of recycling technologies. The new EU guidelines are really ambitious: in the future, a quarter of the plastics in new cars should be made from recycled materials, and 25% of this should come directly from end-of-life vehicles. This clearly shows how important car-to-car recycling will be in the future.
Collaborations like those with Neste and Borealis for the chemical recycling of old tires or the recently expanded partnership with Ausell for the mechanical recycling of car headlights demonstrate that we at Covestro can and want to make a significant contribution. Our goal is to enable automotive manufacturers to comply with the new EU regulations. Ultimately, it's about closing loops, significantly reducing the consumption of fossil raw materials and their carbon footprint – both the right political framework and innovative materials and technologies like ours are essential for this."