A German consortium consisting of 19 leading industrial companies and research institutes, including the BMW Group, Evonik, Thyssenkrupp, the Fraunhofer Institute, and the Technical University of Munich, has been established with the aim of developing new processes for using sustainable materials in large parts of the value chain, for the purpose of circular automotive production.
Launched at the end of 2022 by BMW, the Future Sustainable Car Materials (FSCM) initiative, as it is called, the objective is to promote the creation of a circular economy in automotive production.
The project has received funding for three years from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK),
Evonik is contributing its expertise in plastics and additives for recycling to the project. The project, which is funded for three years by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), was launched at the end of last year.
In a circular economy, materials are kept in the value chain after the parts or products in which these have been used reach the end of their useful life. These materials can be reused or recycled into new components, which eliminates the need for the use of virgin resources. The challenge is to keep these materials in the cycle while maintaining the same quality and safety properties.
"Our mechanical recycling experts work closely with recyclers to prepare methods for cleaning up plastic parts, such as separating paint at the end of useful life,” said Patrick Glöckner, head of the Global Circular Plastics Program at Evonik. “We also work with compounders to develop solutions for using the highest possible proportion of recycled plastics in new automotive parts."
Working as a team, the consortium is confident that challenges will be rapidly identified, after which it will focus on jointly developing solutions.
Moreover, the partners in the FSCM initiative are optimistic that the knowledge generated within the project will subsequently be able to be applied to other industrial products in the future, such as commercial vehicles, electrical and household appliances. In this way it will be an added impetus for future circular economy systems in the German economy.