An independent study by ETH Zurich found that recycling 1 kg of automotive shredder residue alongside 3 kg of biomass reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3 kg CO2-equivalent compared to incineration with energy recovery.
We create change
Rethinking the ride
Every day, billions of people get into a car, hop on a bus, or cross the street without a second thought. Mobility shapes modern life, yet the materials and systems behind it are under growing pressure to become smarter, cleaner and more circular. At BASF, that challenge is sparking a rethink of the entire journey – from the plastics inside a car to the asphalt beneath its tires – with the aim of making every mile a little easier on the planet.
Plastic is everywhere in the modern car: in dashboards, doors, bumpers, and under the hood. Around 200 kilograms of plastic per vehicle are used in its manufacture, helping auto manufacturers make vehicles lighter and increase performance.
But when a car reaches the end of its life, those same plastics become far more difficult to recover. They are often mixed with other materials or reinforced with fibers. Over time, they become degraded through exposure to high temperatures and are contaminated with oil, fluids, and dirt. Conventional disposal methods result in a shredded residue of e.g. foams, plastics, films, metal and paint particles which is hard to separate and recycle using conventional mechanical methods. In fact, when a car reaches the end of its life, most of its plastic is incinerated or sent to a landfill.
BASF is working with automotive manufacturers to change that equation. Researchers are exploring innovative new routes that could give these materials a second life in future vehicles.
These methods are no longer just ideas on the drawing board. All three have already been trialed successfully in projects with automotive manufacturers. The next step is turning successful trials into solutions that can work beyond the pilot stage. From separating valuable polymers with solvents to cleaning complex material streams and purifying them for reuse, BASF has the chemical expertise to help make that happen. The company is currently helping steer the projects being brought into the spotlight. But scaling these solutions over time will also depend on strong partners across the value chain.
In other words, parts once destined for the incinerator could become the starting point for something new. In the future, the plastic in your car might not end up as waste, but it could help build the next generation of vehicles.
Increasingly heavy traffic, seemingly endless construction sites, and extreme weather conditions are taking a toll on our roads. BASF’s sustainable product for the asphalt industry, B2Last®, is offering a solution by changing how roads are built.
This new bitumen additive is designed to make road surfaces more durable and last longer. It reduces the overall carbon footprint throughout the asphalt manufacturing and road-building process. It can be applied at lower temperatures, which also reduces the emissions released, making construction sites safer and more environmentally friendly.
So, next time you're cruising down a pothole-free highway, maybe it’s another example of how B2Last is transforming our roads.
