BMW Group To Use Maritime Plastic Waste To Produce Visible Vehicle Trim Parts
(RTTNews) - German luxury carmaker BMW AG (BMW.L, BAMXF.PK, BAMXY.PK) announced Tuesday that it will use maritime plastic waste to produce visible trim parts, which is expected to reduce CO2 emissions or carbon footprint by 25 percent compared to conventionally manufactured components. The new initiative is developed in cooperation with the Danish company PLASTIX.
The BMW Group aims to use thermoplastics made from 40 percent recycled material in its new vehicles by 2030. The raw material will contain around 30 percent recycled fishing nets and ropes. After separation, fishing nets and ropes undergo an innovative process that produces plastic granules.
The raw material is proactively sourced at ports all around the world to ensure that it doesn't end up being discarded in the sea.
In an exclusive recycling process, waste material from the maritime industry is used to produce trim parts suitable for the exterior and interior of future vehicles. The ocean plastics will be used to make floor mats in the BMW iX and the BMW X1. It will also be used in both non-visible and visible areas of the exterior and interior of the NEUE KLASSE models from 2025.
This form of recycling makes it possible to reduce the need for petroleum-based primary plastics and at the same time counteract ocean pollution.
Overall, the BMW Group has set itself the target of increasing the proportion of secondary materials in the thermoplastics used in new vehicles from currently around 20 percent to an average of 40 percent by 2030.