BASF, Covestro, LyondellBasell, Mitsubishi Chemical Group, SABIC, SUEZ, and Syensqo will participate in the pilot together. This groundbreaking pilot will address the critical challenge of recycling plastics from End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs).

Each year, over 800 million metric tons of ELV plastics in the EU alone are incinerated or landfilled, resulting in significant environmental and economic losses. This pilot is a key first step to transform this waste into valuable resources, enabling the automotive industry to significantly increase the rate of closed-loop recycled plastics.

“This collaboration represents a turning point for the industry,” said Charlie Tan, CEO of GIC. “Recycling ELV plastics has long been a challenge, with less than 20% of these materials recycled today. By uniting players from across the automotive value chain—from auto makers to dismantlers, sorters, recyclers and the chemical industry—we are connecting the links to close the loop on plastics.” 

A Bold Step Toward Circularity

The pilot in the Netherlands and Germany will dismantle, shred, and sort plastic fractions from 100 end-of-life vehicles into 10 types of polymers. These fractions will be recycled by the collaborating companies using their technologies. The project partners have engaged dismantlers, shredding companies, and sorting facilities to create a robust network, aiming to demonstrate the economic feasibility of large-scale closed-loop recycling systems.

“Automotive sustainability hinges on addressing materials that have long been overlooked,” said Yves Rannou, Co-CEO of SUEZ & Chief Operating Officer of Recycling & Recovery, “Recycling ELV plastics isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a chance to redefine how we view waste as a resource and ensure we can make it economically sustainable for each party involved. This pilot is the beginning of a transformative journey for the entire automotive and plastics value chain.” 

Meeting Growing Regional Sustainability Mandates

The Automotive Plastics Circularity project aligns with the EU’s proposed ELV regulations, which mandate that by 2030, 25% of plastics in new cars must come from recycled materials, with 25% of those from closed-loop recycling. This pilot aims to validate scalable solutions to meet these targets, reducing reliance on landfilling and incineration. By optimizing processes and achieving purer polymer fractions, the pilot will provide insights into meeting regulatory requirements and showcase a scalable, sustainable business model for global application.

“The goal of this pilot is to move beyond theoretical discussions and test real-world solutions for ELV plastics recycling. By focusing on advanced sorting and recycling technologies, we aim to prove that high-quality, closed-loop systems are not only possible but scalable for global impact,” commented Lars Kissau, President, Net Zero Accelerator, BASF. 

Next Steps

The pilot is expected to yield valuable data to guide broader industry adoption. Following its conclusion, the project will focus on scaling up efforts regionally in Europe and expanding to other key markets for ELV plastics recycling and production.