In the loop

it’s another project looking to save and reuse as many valuable materials as possible from vehicles that have reached the end of their lifecycle.

For the most part, very few of the materials from production vehicles are retrieved and up-cycled to be reused. Steel, for example, usually ends up as structural steel after end-of-life vehicle recycling, but Audi is determined to change that by reusing secondary materials taken from end-of-life vehicles in the production of new cars. Quality is a major consideration though – maintaining the highest standards in new vehicle production is of paramount importance, but Audi is working with 15  partners from the research, recycling and supplier sectors to ensure that quality is maintained and processes are viable.

“The MaterialLoop project underscores our ambitious vision to operate a highly efficient circular economy concept for end-of-life vehicles,” says Audi CEO Markus Duesmann. “It is our goal to recover as many materials as possible at a high level of quality and reuse them in production. This will save valuable primary materials and lower the products’ ecological footprint. Simultaneously, direct access to secondary materials can contribute to increased security of supply. Raw materials would no longer have to be extracted.”

Back in October 2022, Audi took 100 vehicles (including former development vehicles), and dismantled as part of the joint MaterialLoop project. After disassembly, the remaining car bodies were shredded and sorted into material groups – steel, aluminium, plastic and glass – to test their reuse in new cars. The result was that Audi defined and piloted the further recycling process together with project partners from the recycling industry, the Audi supply chain and academia.

As well as the technical feasibility of returning materials in the Audi supply chain, the process also seeks to improve future generations of Audi vehicles’ ability to be recycled so that in many ways, the process becomes self-perpetuating.

“At its core, circular economy is about handling resources responsibly. Longevity, repairability, and indeed, our products’ ability to be recycled are thus all in focus,” says Dennis Meinen, an expert in the circular economy at Audi.

Audi has already been able to put valuable findings from the MaterialLoop project into practice, with some materials now being fed back into automobile production.

One result is that much of the scrap steel recycled in the project can be used to make new models. Another groundbreaking area that is being explored is the reuse of automotive glass, with car windows that are beyond repair being broken down and then melted to be turned into new plate glass – some of which is now finding its way into the production of the Q4 e-tron.

Significant advances have also been made in the reuse of automotive plastics, using chemical for the first time to reuse mixed automotive plastic waste for the series production of the Audi Q8 e-tron. 

All this on top of the brand’s existing efforts in areas such as the aluminium closed loop which has been delivering outstanding results in reusing this precious commodity for several years.

It all goes to the big picture and the incremental refining of the recycling and process that over time. This will not only see a tremendous reduction in waste and a corresponding increase in the recycling and reuse of high-quality materials, but a change in the way cars are designed and built to streamline the process even further in the future.