German plastics producer Covestro is stepping up its collaboration with Chinese automakers and recycling firms to reuse end of life plastic automotive components, as vehicle scrappage in the world’s largest vehicle market continues to grow strongly.
With the support of German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Covestro recently launched a pilot scheme involving local automakers including Nio and Volkswagen and Shenzhen recycling company GEM to develop localised plastic waste processing and recycling methods.
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The project followed proposals by the European Commission (EC) last year to make it mandatory for new vehicles sold in the EU to contain a minimum of 25% recycled plastic materials by 2030, of which 25% would need to come from recycled automotive plastics. This would also affect vehicles imported from China.
Covestro’head of mobility sales and market development, Guido Naberfeld, said: “The purpose of the pilot project is to examine and address the pain points of the recycling process in the automotive value chain which will pave the way for future scale up considering the impact of upcoming regulatory demands like the European end of life vehicle directive currently under review.”
The company wants to recycle polycarbonate components such as headlamps to produce new automotive interior and exterior trim parts, including instrument panels, seating and spoilers.
The initial stage of the pilot project will recycle plastics from 100 vehicles, with a view to optimising processes and reducing greenhouse gases emitted during the recovery and recycling processes.
