Melting Materials: New plastics recycling program announced by Audi

Milton, Florida – Audi has completed a pilot project to recycle mixed automotive plastic waste using a chemical auto recycling process.

Together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, Audi says it can take the many parts of a vehicle made of plastic into pyrolysis oil so that it can be used to make plastic parts for future Audi vehicles.

The plastic in cars is held to a high standard and must pass safety, heat resistance, and quality requirements. Currently, vehicles are only made from vehicle plastic which mechanical recycling of plastic cannot replicate.

Audi conducted a chemical recycling test to investigate whether mixed automotive plastic fractions can be sent back into a resource-friendly cycle.

Tests conducted have shown that new pyrolysis oil components are of the same high quality as “virgin” materials.

Carmakers are finding ways to reduce their fossil resource consumption, while still releasing new, top of the line vehicles. Audi’s initiative could enhance the amount of recycled plastic used in its vehicles. A follow-up project has already been planned with its partner for the development of a chemical recycling process for industrial applications.