At K 2025, BASF and its partners will showcase two groundbreaking recycling techniques designed to recover polyamide plastics from retired vehicles. While metal recycling from cars has been common practice for years, up to 200 kilograms of plastics per vehicle are often burned or discarded. BASF’s new methods aim to change this trend, especially in light of upcoming End-of-Life Vehicle Regulation (ELVR) requirements. Pilot initiatives demonstrate how automotive plastic waste can be reprocessed and reintegrated into new vehicle production, promoting a circular approach within the industry.
BASF has created an innovative chemical recycling process that effectively handles heavily used and contaminated polyamide parts, like oil pans from end-of-life vehicles provided by ZF Group. The key step involves breaking down the long polymer chains into their original monomers through depolymerization. The recovered monomer, caprolactam from PA6, is then purified to remove any impurities that could affect quality, which traditional mechanical recycling can’t eliminate. The purified monomers are then reassembled into high-grade polyamide, suitable for demanding automotive applications. This closes the loop by transforming old automotive plastics back into high-quality components.
Martin Scheuble, Team Leader for Circularity Engineering Plastics at BASF, highlights, “Materials once seen as non-recyclable now serve as the foundation for premium new products.” ZF Group’s use of this recycled material in a sophisticated chassis part for Mercedes-Benz demonstrates the technology’s real-world viability. Performance tests confirmed the recycled polyamide meets all required chemical and physical standards.
Dr Michael Lohrmann, Director of Materials Technology at ZF, notes, “This project showcases recycled plastic’s potential for demanding uses and reflects ZF’s commitment to sustainable material cycles.” The second pilot focuses on recovering polyamides from automotive shredder residue (ASR), a tough-to-recycle mix left after metals and glass are removed. Working closely with a recycling firm, BASF’s partners have developed sorting and processing methods to isolate polyamide fractions in high purity.
These polyamides are then processed using a solvent-based technique that dissolves the polymer chains without breaking them down. After purification, the material is reformed into PA6 compounds. This method was tested on chain guide rails produced for Mercedes-Benz and successfully validated by Pöppelmann under near-production conditions.
Steffen Meyer, Team Leader Production Technology at Pöppelmann, comments, “This solvent-based recycling presents a practical solution for plastics that mechanical recycling can’t fully recover, strengthening the circular economy from car to car.”
Independent life cycle assessments reveal that both recycling methods significantly reduce CO₂ emissions compared to producing polyamides from fossil resources and traditional plastic waste treatment like incineration. These processes promise to play a vital role in greening the plastics lifecycle and transforming the industry towards sustainability.
BASF’s approach, branded as #OurPlasticsJourney, covers the entire lifecycle stages of “make, use, recycle.” With varying types of plastic waste and sorting challenges, a broad range of recycling technologies is essential to meet environmental targets.
Jana Krägenbring-Noor, Head of Sustainability at Mercedes-Benz, states, “To increase secondary raw material availability, expanding and diversifying recycling methods through pilot projects is crucial. This technological variety strengthens our efforts in resource conservation.”
Dr Martin Jung, President of BASF Performance Materials, adds, “Improving mechanical and solvent recycling efficiency is important, but chemical recycling—including depolymerization and pyrolysis—is necessary to keep plastics in circulation and reduce waste. Proper regulations will support the parallel advancement of all recycling options.”
