Audi is acquiring knowledge to establish closed cycles of materials such as steel, aluminium, plastic and glass. With its “MaterialLoop” project, the brand with the four rings, together with 15 partners from the research, recycling and various supplier sectors, is studying the reuse of so-called post-consumer materials, which are recovered from vehicles at the end of their life. life cycle to reuse them in the production of new cars.
As part of Audi’s sustainability strategy, the project offers valuable insight into how a circular economy can be put into practice.
Until now, very few of the materials used in the production of new vehicles recover from cars that have reached the end of their useful life. Steel, for example, often ends up as structural steel after recycling cars. Audi wants to change this situation by reusing secondary materials from these end-of-life vehicles for the production of new cars, avoiding “downcycling”, that is, the loss of quality of the materials resulting from the recycling process.
“The MaterialLoop project underlines our ambitious vision to implement a highly efficient circular economy concept for end-of-life vehicles,” says Audi CEO Markus Duesmann.
“Our objective is salvage as many materials as possible with a high level of quality and reuse them in production. This will save valuable primary materials and reduce the ecological footprint of the products. At the same time, direct access to secondary materials can help increase security of supply. It will no longer be necessary to extract raw materials.”
As part of this project, 100 vehicles were dismantled in October 2022, including former development cars. Only the selective disassembly of individual components made it possible to preserve high-quality secondary materials for recycling, such as large plastic parts. after disassembly, the bodies were crushed and sorted into material groups including steel, aluminium, plastic and glass, in collaboration with partner companies. With the aim of testing the reuse of these materials in the production of new cars, Audi defined and led the subsequent process together with project partners from the recycling industry, the Audi supply chain and academia.
“Our emphasis on driving cycles within the industry allows us to use our products and the materials they are made from for as long as possible. The goal is to be less dependent on secondary materials from other industries in the future,” explains Johanna Klewitz, Head of the Sustainable Supply Chain at AUDI AG.
In addition to the technical feasibility of reusing materials, it is also intended to improve the recyclability of future generations of Audi vehicles. The project is part of circular economy strategy of the brand and offers valuable information on the application of this process. Dennis Meinen, Audi’s circular economy expert, says: “At its core, the circular economy is about managing resources responsibly. The longevity, repairability and recyclability of our products are therefore the focus.”
Recycled steel in the production of the Audi A4
The MaterialLoop pilot project will run until the end of April, although Audi has already been able to implement valuable finds, and some materials are being reintroduced into automobile production. One result is that much of the steel recycled at the project can be used to make new vehicles.
In an initial test, six steel coils were produced, made from 12% secondary materials from MaterialLoop, which meet Audi’s high quality standards and can be used for the most demanding structural components. The forecast is to use the coils to produce up to 15,000 interior elements for the doors of the Audi A4 at the Ingolstadt pressing plant.
In addition, according to research carried out within the framework of this initiative, it would be possible to further increase the proportion of recycled steel.
In addition, together with the project partners, the brand with the four rings is collecting data that can be very useful for the design and construction processes of future models.
As a further result of the MaterialLoop pilot project, Audi has developed, in collaboration with with the Volkswagen Groupa guide for suppliers that explains the principles with which plastic parts can be designed, so as to further increase the recycling rate.