Panelists advocate for increasing recycled content in vehicles through closer cooperation.
The automotive sector is under pressure to adopt a circular approach to its supply chain, requiring greater collaboration with the recycled materials industry, according to a panel discussion hosted by the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) in Detroit in July.
Representatives from Toyota, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and Ford participated in the panel, titled Driving Circularity: Aligning Automakers and Recyclers Across the Supply Chain. Kari Bliss of Holland, Michigan-based recycling company Padnos moderated the discussion.
ReMA President Robin Wiener introduced the session, noting that a “fundamental shift” is occurring in the global automotive supply chain.
“It's going to take time, but there is an increased focus on circularity,” she said. “We believe very importantly at ReMA that the future of American manufacturing depends on stronger collaboration between the entire materials value chain, and conversations like this one certainly help make this happen.”
Bliss echoed that sentiment.
“Our primary goal is really to build that collaboration, which requires us to be transparent [and] requires us to have these conversations,” she said.
Panelist Dan Bowerson, vice president of energy and environment policy at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, also emphasized the importance of stronger partnerships between automakers and recyclers.
Ford's Ellen Lee, technical leader of advanced polymer technologies in the company's Research & Advanced Engineering division, described the relationship as symbiotic.
“We each produce what the other needs,” she said.
Regulatory pressure accelerates industry change
Mark Bacchus, senior manager of chemical and materials stewardship at Toyota North America, said regulations governing end-of-life vehicles are expanding rapidly.
“There's a lot coming,” he said. “So, we have to be ready as automakers. You guys have to be ready as the recyclers and the shredders and so on.”
Bacchus cited Mexico’s General Law on Circular Economy, the European Union’s Directive on End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) and the global plastics pollution treaty being negotiated through the United Nations as measures likely to have the greatest impact.
The EU’s ELV directive requires at least 15 percent recycled plastic content in vehicles beginning Sept. 1, 2032, increasing to 25 percent by Sept. 1, 2036. In addition, 3 percent of that recycled content must come directly from end-of-life vehicles by 2032, rising to 5 percent by 2036.
Bacchus noted that global automakers must align with regulations established in major markets.
“We operate, generally, on a global scale. The Corolla that's sold here is the same Corolla that's sold in Europe [and] that's sold everywhere else,” he said, adding that because Europe is such a large market, its regulations often influence vehicle design and material decisions worldwide.
Regarding Mexico’s circular economy legislation, Bacchus said policymakers are moving quickly, and the auto industry is having trouble keeping up.
“They're moving at blinding speed on this,” he said, adding that the resulting requirements could prove “overburdensome and not realistic.”
Legislation also is driving increased attention to battery circularity.
“We are going to be very, very dependent on the battery circularity community ... to recover these materials,” Bacchus said. “We need those battery materials to come back to us so that we can meet these requirements.”
The need for traceability and recycled-content data
Beyond recycled-content targets, Bacchus said supply-chain traceability requirements will have significant implications for recyclers.
The rules eventually could require recycled-content certification or other forms of documentation that allow materials to be audited throughout the supply chain.
“We just need to be able to understand what fraction is in there that can be traced in a way that can be audited,” Lee said.
She added that regulators have not yet specified exactly what recyclers outside Europe will be required to provide.
Bliss encouraged recyclers to begin preparing now.
“It's never too early to have that information,” she said. “If you can have that information, there's a value to that, so start working on it now.”
Lee said Ford has begun tracking materials used in vehicles to establish baselines before setting future targets.
“A lot of this work we're doing with precompetitive collaborations, so Suppliers Partnership for the Environment, USAMP, which is part of USCAR, and other organizations,” she said. “It's a big part of what we need to do because this is a challenge for the entire industry.”
Material complexity creates recycling challenges
The regulations arrive as automakers grapple with increasingly complex material streams.
Bacchus noted that the industry is dealing with polymer production caps and efforts to restrict certain plastic additives that remain important for vehicle performance, safety and durability.
The average vehicle contains more than 600 types of plastic, complicating recovery and recycling efforts.
“Different plastics have different strengths and different weaknesses,” Bacchus said. “We're going to remain dependent on your community to be able to dismantle, shred, separate that ASR [auto shredder residue] and so on.”
Battery materials pose another challenge.
“We're trying as hard as we can to recover those materials, which are very critical and expensive and valuable to put back,” Lee said.
She noted that some sustainability goals can conflict with one another.
Electric vehicles, for example, carry a significant carbon footprint associated with battery production, increasing the importance of recovering materials and reducing processing requirements.
Lee also noted that, as vehicle-use emissions decline, materials account for a greater share of overall life-cycle emissions, forcing automakers to balance recycled content, recyclability and carbon reduction goals simultaneously.
New materials and circular design require long timelines
To address these challenges, automakers are working with suppliers to explore new chemistries, chemical recycling technologies and alternative feedstocks such as captured carbon dioxide.
However, qualifying new materials can take years.
When Bliss asked about approval timelines, Lee explained that even new materials from existing suppliers must undergo extensive testing and validation.
Mechanical properties must first meet specifications. Samples are then tested by independent laboratories before components can proceed through vehicle validation processes.
“If you're proposing to change the material or the design to something new, then you may have additional tests that need to be done,” Lee said. “The whole process can take years.”
At the same time, manufacturers say they increasingly are embracing design-for-recycling principles.
“Design for disassembly is something that we're working very closely on,” Lee said.
She said Ford is seeking opportunities to simplify multimaterial components, improve recovery and sorting rates, and better understand recyclers’ operational realities.
Bacchus agreed that OEMs recognize they have a role to play.
Collaboration will determine success
Panelists repeatedly returned to the importance of collaboration across the supply chain.
Bowerson noted that automakers effectively can advocate for their own industry but benefit from recyclers providing their own perspectives during policy discussions.
Lee said Ford is exploring whether end-of-life vehicle components could be collected through alternative channels, such as collision centers, though she acknowledged the efficiency advantages of existing shredding systems.
She said industry discussions are needed to determine what solutions are practical and economically viable.
Wiener offered to facilitate further discussions between automobile manufacturers and auto shredder operators.
Bacchus said the industry must move beyond traditional silos.
“We now have a need to have that conversation with this community so that we can be more effective in delivering better products to the consumer and also that help the environment at the same time.”
He emphasized that recyclers must be able to operate profitably if circular systems are to succeed.
“We want you to be able to make a penny or make a dime on things,” he said. “We want you to be able to be profitable because that's sustainable.”
Lee concluded that some aspects of circularity can only be achieved collectively.
“Opening up this collaborative discussion and conversation is super valuable because there are certain things that we can't do in a silo,” she said. “There are other actions that we need to do as a community and to work together to make sure that everyone continues to make that dime.”