Kidney meets Greentech and Circular Economy: The BMW Group is taking the lead in a new funding project in the field of circular economy in automotive engineering. Together with representatives of the recycling industry, raw material processors and science, the company is working on increasing the quality of secondary raw materials obtained from the recycling of end-of-life vehicles.
Car2Car is to deliver technologies for optimized recycling of end-of-life vehicles
The project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection with 6.4 million euros as part of the “New Vehicle and System Technologies” funding guideline, is called Car2Car and focuses on the materials aluminum, steel, glass, copper and plastic.
Greentech @ BMW: From scrap cars to raw materials
Innovative dismantling and automated sorting processes should make it possible in the future to use the recyclable materials produced in the recycling of end-of-life vehicles to a much greater extent than before for use in the production of new automobiles.
The funding project also includes a thorough assessment of both the ecological and economic effects of closed-loop recycling of the materials examined… Read more: Press information from BMW
In general, there are several ways to effectively recycle old cars and end-of-life vehicles:
- Disassembly: The first step in recycling an old car is disassembly. All usable parts such as engines, transmissions, seats, doors, body parts and tires are removed.
- Junkyard: The dismantled parts are collected at a junkyard and sorted into categories such as aluminum, steel, copper, plastic and glass. These materials can then be sold or further processed.
- Metal smelting: The metal is melted down in a metal smelter and processed into new products such as metal tubes, sheets or castings.
- Plastic recycling: Plastic parts can also be recycled. They are crushed and processed into granules, which can then be used to manufacture new plastic products.
- Environmentally friendly disposal: The rest of the vehicle is disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. This also includes the disposal of hazardous substances such as oil, brake fluid or batteries.
- Reuse: Some of the removed parts can also be reused, for example by selling them as used spare parts.
- Overall, the recycling of end-of-life vehicles makes an important contribution to protecting the environment and conserving resources. It is also a legal requirement that end-of-life vehicles must be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.