Volvo pledges 25 percent of plastics to be recycled content by 2025

Automotive giant Volvo Car Group is pledging that by 2025, 25 percent of the plastics used in its cars will come from recycled sources.

The company unveiled a specially-built version of its XC60 T8 plug-in hybrid SUV on June 18, noting that it looks and performs exactly the same as its normal version, but it uses recycled content for many of its parts.

"Volvo Cars is committed to minimizing its global environmental footprint," said Hakan Samuelsson, president and CEO. "Environmental care is one of Volvo's core values, and we will continue to find new ways to bring this into our business. This car and our recycled plastics ambition are further examples of that commitment.

The special XC60's interior has a center console made using renewable fibers and plastics recovered from discarded fishing nets and other maritime plastics. The flooring carpet uses recycled nylon and its seat fabric comes from recycled PET bottles.

The foam from old Volvo car seats is used in the sound absorber under the hood.

“We already work with some great, forward-thinking suppliers when it comes to sustainability,” said Martina Buchhauser, senior vice president of global procurement at Volvo Cars, but added that the company needs to access more recycled material for more parts, “if we are to make our ambition a reality.”

The Chinese-owned, Sweden-based carmaker urged automotive suppliers to work more closely with car manufacturers to develop next-generation sustainable components, particularly ones that contain more recycled plastics.

The recycled-plastics XC60 was revealed at the Ocean Summit during the Gothenburg Volvo Ocean Race stopover.

The race's focus on sustainability centers on a partnership with the United Nations Environment Clean Seas campaign, focusing on the call to action, "turn the tide on plastic."

Volvo's announcement is the latest in a series of decisions to address current environmental issues. Last month, the carmaker committed to removing single-use plastics across all its premises and events by the end of 2019.

In 2017, the company announced a commitment to electrify all new Volvo cars launched after 2019, which would include hybrid-powered vehicles. In May it added to that pledge by saying that it aims to have fully electric vehicles make up 50 percent of its global sales by 2025.