Fishing nets, waste plastics and nylon from the world’s oceans are being re-purposed by BMW for use in trim and body parts.
High-quality plastic parts in future BMW models – starting with two ‘Neue Klasse’ electric cars due in showrooms in 2025 – will be made partly from recycled ocean waste.
The German carmaker is already using recycled plastics to create a product called ECONYL, which is used to produce floor mats in the BMW iX electric SUV and new X1 small SUV.
It is also promising fully vegan interiors for BMW and Mini models from 2023, thanks to development of a material with leather-like properties for use in seat trimming and on steering wheels.
The ocean waste project comes as BMW collects discarded plastics and nylon to stop it being dumped in the sea.
In a partnership with a Danish company, PLASTIX, it is turned into tiny granules which can be used for the first time in injection-moulding machines to create plastic parts.
“This creates additional application possibilities for recycled plastics. The components manufactured using the injection moulding process are trim parts that will be used in both non-visible and visible areas of the exterior and interior of the Neue Klasse models from 2025,” BMW said in an official press release.
“This form of recycling makes it possible to reduce the need for petroleum-based primary plastics and at the same time counteract ocean pollution.”
BMW says about 30 per cent of the new plastics is comprised of recycled material.
Overall, the BMW Group said it is working to increase the proportion of secondary materials in the thermoplastics used in its new vehicles from around 20 per cent today to an average of 40 percent by 2030.
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