Design News AUG 2023 / by Dan Carney / Read original article
Turning post-consumer plastic products into new auto parts keeps plastic out of the waste stream.
The dual needs to reduce the consumption of new resources in creating plastic products and to reduce the eventual creation of plastic waste when products have been used drive the pursuit of recycled materials in the auto industry.
Plastics are pervasive in modern vehicles, creating the opportunity for significant reuse of plastic. We’ve seen this in the case of the Ford Bronco Sport, which employs recycled plastic from recovered fishing nets in its wiring harness clips. The aim is to expand use of the material into other applications such as engine covers. The ultimate potential is for as much as 700 lbs. of plastic per vehicle to be created from recycled materials, according to Ford technical expert Alper Kiziltas, with about 10 percent of that eligible to be made using the recycled fishing net material.
Reusing Wreckage
Some more visible applications of recycled plastics in new automotive parts are in the cars’ interiors, where consumers will see the materials during every drive. Audi has partnered with LyondellBasell, the world’s largest producer of polymer products, to produce plastic seat belt buckle covers for the Q8 e-tron EV using plastic recovered from parts of crashed Audis.
“As part of the PlasticLoop project, we are working with Audi to establish an innovative closed-loop process, recycling plastic automotive parts for use in new vehicles,” said Erik Licht, LyondellBasell Advanced Polymer Solutions New Business Development Director. “For the first time, we are using chemical recycling to recycle mixed automotive plastic waste into plastic granulate for automotive interior applications,” he said. “The plastic granulate is then used in the production of the seatbelt buckle covers for the Audi Q8 e-tron.”
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