Audi is pursuing the vision of a circular economy

The earth’s resources are limited, so it is important not to consume resources faster than they can be regenerated or reproduced each year by the earth and its ecosystems. Sustainable operations are therefore at the core of the Audi strategy.

One approach from the perspective of AUDI AG is to close material loops in the sense of creating a circular economy and to focus consistently on using progressive technology to start shaping tomorrow’s world today.

“Efficient use of resources is essential, especially considering the transformation toward electric mobility. Closed material loops enable the decoupling of economic growth from the consumption of resources, and also reduce dependencies,” explains Dennis Christian Meinen, a circular economy expert at Audi. A circular economy strives to preserve the value of the product and the materials for as long as possible and to avoid downcycling.

With a view to bundling the ongoing activities in the company and increasing the spotlight on the topic, Audi established a project house in August 2021 with experts from all of the divisions working together to find solutions – in exchange with external partners, too.

“We cannot achieve the transformation single-handedly,” says Dennis Christian Meinen, considering the complex value chain. “We are working hand in hand with partner companies and research organizations in the project house to take decisive steps toward a circular vehicle. The key signals are laid as early as the product design and not simply when individual parts arrive at the plant gates or even at the recycling stage.”

Who gives any thought to recycling an Audi at the first glimpse of a new one? Audi does! Aspects such as reuse and recyclability are considered as early as the development stage of a vehicle – and thus years before the first series-production vehicle leaves the plant. Statutory requirements create the framework for this planning.¹

Each part has to be considered individually when the vehicle reaches its end of life in terms of deciding what further action to take. Initially, of course, the goal should be to reuse or repair. For instance, transmissions can be reconditioned and resold for reuse, while lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles can start a new life as energy storage devices when they no longer meet the exacting requirements for use in a vehicle.

Can the concept of the Aluminium Closed Loop also work with other materials and with a view to recycling vehicles? This is a challenge especially in terms of mixed plastic waste that cannot be sorted by type – but one that Audi is ready to embrace. Chemical recycling offers very promising results and can contribute to more sustainable production. Audi is working with partner companies from research and industry on this method and successfully completed a pilot project in 2021.

The process is extremely complex, involving collecting, shredding and heating various plastics, which can also contain foreign substances and lacquers. Using pyrolysis technology – a thermochemical conversion process in which the bonds within the molecules are broken down at high temperatures – pyrolysis oil is produced at a temperature of 500 degrees Celsius, while a large proportion of the other substances settle at the bottom as solid matter. Combustion is prevented by extracting oxygen. The pyrolysis oil can then be used to produce plastic components with the same product high quality as new products. This recycled plastic can even be used for safety-relevant parts.

The chemical recycling of plastic offers enormous potential to significantly increase the number of sustainably produced automobile components. What is more, when used to produce parts, the process should help reduce CO₂ emissions in comparison with the energy recovery² of plastics. The use of pyrolysis oil is a good example of how the use of resources – in this case crude oil – and the ecological footprint can be reduced while maintaining the same product quality and safety. 

The “Chemical recycling of plastics in automotive engineering” pilot project targeted the creation of smart circular systems for plastics and the establishment of this method as a complement to mechanical recycling and replacement of energy recovery.² Not only was the project a success, but so too was the manner in which Audi supported and drove forward the project: with over­arching cooperation between science and industry.