Recycling: With Secondary Materials to New Visions

In September this year, the international annual German motor show – IAA Mobility 2021 – took place in Munich. Circular economy and sustainability formed a significant pillar of this event.

For example, the concept vehicle “BMW i Vision Circular”, which the BMW Group presented as a future solution for the year 2040, attracted a great deal of attention. The special feature of this concept car is that it has been designed according to circular economy principles and using secondary materials to cut CO2 emissions. “The process for supplying secondary materials is far less harmful to the environment and carbon-intensive compared to the extraction and manufacture of primary material,” the car manufacturer explained. “This can bring about a major improvement in a vehicle’s carbon footprint, especially on the supply chain side.” At present, vehicles from the BMW Group were manufactured using nearly 30 percent recycled and reused material on average. The company’s ‘secondary first’ approach aims at gradually increasing this figure to 50 percent.

Future tires will also contain secondary materials. During IAA Mobility, tire manufacturers Continental and Michelin highlighted plans to make their tires as sustainable as possible and use recycled plastic in tire production. Furthermore, when batteries have spent their useful life, companies, research institutes and vehicle-makers are developing and optimizing efficient ways for recycling high-voltage batteries.

The transition towards a circular economy is already happening around the globe since more and more countries recognize the benefits of such a sustainable practice. In September, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and the Government of Canada hosted the World Circular Economy Forum 2021, which was organized in collaboration with 15 international and Canadian partners. The Forum’s theme was “Game changers! Seizing the circular opportunity”. It focused on the actions needed in the next five years to raise circular ambition globally, bring in new allies and introduce new voices into the conversation.

Regarding circularity, African countries offer plenty of opportunities for business activities, as there are “Five Big Bets” for the circular economy in Africa (page 5). In Brazil, waste-to-energy technology is on a massive transition into the future (page 28). A patented manufacturing process using tungsten powder made from scraps or chips enables additive manufacturing of complex components (page 12). And for conveyor systems, cleated belts can be an effective solution (page 44).

We hope you get a lot of new and useful information from reading this current magazine.

Yours, Brigitte Weber