Novi, Mich. — Auto supplier giant Magna International Inc. will begin making car seats made with 100 percent recyclable PET — including PET foam — for a 2027 model year vehicle.
Magna, North America's largest auto parts supplier, said its new EcoSphere product line will use PET as the monomaterial in both textile and foam, making it easier to recycle the entire seat at the end of the vehicle life.
The material EcoSphere material line can also be produced from recyclede PET.
Magna investigated "everything to make sure that every component is made out of a mono-material that's either made out of recycled content or can be recycled at its end of life — and right now in the market, that is not there," said Carrie Young, Magna's chief engineer of seating innovation during an Oct. 10 media event in Novi.
Magna partnered with German manufacturer TWE Group, a maker of textiles and nonwoven materials for EcoSphere. TWE sources plastics from PET bottles, plastic straws, coffee cup lids and other materials collected from seas, rivers and lakes in developing countries. Those materials are then used to make recycled PET fibers.