The Global Impact Coalition, a CEO-led initiative to help the chemical industry transition to net-zero, has launched a pilot project in Germany and the Netherlands to recycle plastics from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs).
Industry giants BASF, Sabic, Covestro, Clariant, LyondellBasell, Mitsubishi Chemical Group and Solvay, founding members of the coalition, are joining forces with dismantlers, shredding companies and sorting facilities to create a circular network for plastics from ELVs.
The pilot, taking place in the Netherlands and Germany, will dismantle, shred and sort plastic fractions, clustered into 10 types of polymers and automotive parts from 100 end-of-life vehicles. These sorted plastic fractions will then be recycled by the collaborating companies with each of their specific technologies. Focusing on bulk aggregation of ELV plastics, the pilot will serve to test and optimize a new approach to dismantling, sorting and recycling plastic fractions under real-world conditions.
“This collaboration represents a turning point for the industry,” said Charlie Tan, CEO of the Global Impact Coalition. “Recycling ELV plastics has long been a challenge, with less than 20 percent 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.”
In 2020, the EU collected 1,009 metric tons of ELV plastics, but only 19 percent were recycled, with 41 percent being incinerated for energy recovery and 40 percent ending up in landfills. With over 6 million vehicles reaching the end of their life each year in Europe, millions of tonnes of valuable materials are lost to the economy annually.
By pooling demand for a wide variety of ELV polymers, the initiative seeks to demonstrate the economic feasibility of large-scale closed-loop recycling systems.
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.
“The goal of this pilot is to move beyond theoretical discussions and test real-world solutions for ELV plastics recycling,” said Lars Kissau, president Net Zero Accelerator at BASF. “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.”
The project announcement comes as the European Parliament is discussing amendments to the bloc’s new directive for end-of-life vehicles.
In early February, the Parliament voted for watered down quotas for recycled plastic in new vehicles at first-reading.
The draft proposes amendments to the European Commission’s proposed regulation, including reducing recycled plastic content target in new vehicles from 25% to 20%. It also proposes that 15 percent, rather than the previous 25 percent, of this recycled content is achieved from end-of-life vehicles in a closed-loop.
Importantly, the changes say post-industrial plastic and bio-based plastic may count towards the targets.
The rapporteurs also explicitly added chemical recycling as an option to consider when choosing between the ‘best available recycling technologies’ to calculate recycled plastic content.