LyondellBasel and Audi! Chemically recycled polypropylene is used to replace raw fossil raw materials to make plastic car parts

Recently, LyondellBasel and Audi AG reached a cooperation to help achieve a full closed-loop cycle of mixed automotive plastic waste. Audi installed a plastic seat belt buckle cover in the Q8 e-tron made of polypropylene produced from LyondellBasel, based on chemically recycled raw materials.

The repairable plastic parts on the customer's vehicle are disassembled, shredded and then processed into pyrolysis oil through chemical recycling. This pyrolysis oil replaces the original fossil raw material and is subsequently used as a raw material for the production of new plastics at LyondellBasel.

"As part of the PlasticLoop project, we are working with Audi to establish an innovative closed-loop process of treating the plastic car parts we receive back for use in new vehicles," says Erik Licht, Product Development Director Advanced Polymers at LyondellBasel. The plastic pellets were then used to produce the seat belt buckle cover of the Audi Q8 e-tron. ”

Through this process, LyondellBasel, Audi and chemical recycler SynCycle have successfully recovered material streams that are currently mostly only suitable for energy recovery. This reduces the use of fossil-based primary materials in the Audi Q8 e-tron model and puts valuable raw materials in a closed loop. The materials produced from pyrolysis oil have the same quality and the same characteristics as the original materials. Chemical recycling offers an alternative to energy recovery and complements mechanical recycling.

Philipp Eder, Project Manager for Supply Chain Circulation at Audi, says: "Audi's vision is to use secondary materials where technically feasible, economically viable and ecologically beneficial. The PlasticLoop project is part of Audi's circular economy strategy. This is a good example of cross-functional collaboration in the Audi supply chain, and the findings of this project are also incorporated into the product development of future automotive projects. ”

LyondellBasel's polymer products, including fillers and additives, are manufactured by chemically recycling 70% recycled content. The recycled content is distributed by the mass balance method and verified by the independent certification body Ecoloop. This means that recycled and non-recycled raw materials are mixed together during the production process, equivalent to 70% of the recycled raw materials of Audi products being attributed using certified mass balance accounting methods.