Audi is the first car manufacturer to develop and implement an economically viable recycling concept for recyclates from end-of-life vehicles, according to a recent press release. 

Through a partnership with TSR Resource, Audi is implementing a program, in which steel scrap taken from vehicles at the end of their life cycle is turned into high-quality post-consumer secondary material and secured for further use in the automotive supply chain. 

Audi started testing the MaterialLoop program in 2023, and in its first stage of expansion which began this year, Audi will make several thousand pre-production vehicles available for recycling. The vehicles will be shredded by TSR Resource and processed into high-quality recycled raw materials for further use in the automotive industry. 

“In return, Audi will have access to the secondary material obtained from these vehicles, which will be credited to a so-called digital material account,” the release says. “Potential material and part suppliers can access this credit balance as part of a tendering process. This gives potential contractual partners of Audi exclusive access to high-quality recycled steel raw materials that can otherwise be subject to significant price fluctuations.”

Audi says it plans to implement the process for additional material flows and vehicles. It says all raw materials that Audi currently purchases or will purchase with binding recyclate content for its vehicle are eligible. 

The program will make the supply chain more resilient in the long term, the release says. It says that high-quality recycling promotes the more sustainable production of consistently high-quality vehicles. 

“Recycling holds tremendous potential,” said Renate Vachenauer, Audi board member for procurement, in the release. “We are constantly working to increase the proportion of recycled materials in our vehicles. With the digital material account, Audi is pioneering a system in the automotive industry through which it can procure valuable recycled raw material resources more independently of the market. Audi demonstrates that sustainability and economics go hand in hand.”

Through the MaterialLoop program, Audi is already using high-quality recycled post-consumer secondary materials on the Audi Q4 e-tron windshields and the roof section of the Audi Q6 e-tron. 

Last year, BMW of North America and Redwood Materials partnered to recycle lithium-ion batteries from all-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and mild hybrid BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, and BMW Motorrad vehicles in the U.S.

Honda also outlined plans for recycling batteries, bumpers, and floor carpet mats in a 2024 ESG Data book last year. 

Hydro, an aluminum and renewable energy company, also announced last year an $85 million investment in a new casting line to advance its aluminum recycling plant in Henderson, Kentucky. 

IMAGE

Feature image of MaterialLoop courtesy of  TSR Group