British car manufacturer JLR is claiming a significant technical breakthrough in the closed-loop recycling of polyurethane seat foam from its end-of-life vehicles, producing new seats.
A collaboration with chemical giant Dow and automotive seating specialist Adient is said to be the first time seat foam content has been successfully used in automotive production.
JLR—formerly Jaguar—is putting the material through a full production process before testing its use on preproduction vehicles early next year. The recycled foam will be one element of a new ‘circular seat’ to halve the impact of CO2e emissions.
Recycling partners
Andrea Debbane, chief sustainability officer for JLR, says the initiative represents a collective commitment to doing things differently. ‘Close collaboration with experts from the recycling and materials science industries, with our supply chain partners, and colleagues from design and engineering is key—we need to work as a collective value chain to unlock meaningful change at scale.’
The technical advancement is the result of research and testing conducted at JLR's Circularity Lab in Gaydon, Midlands. The laboratory unites cross-disciplinary teams that specialise in procurement, engineering, design, and sustainability. They employ a "learn through doing" methodology to disassemble vehicles, collaborating closely with suppliers and material experts to identify and surmount the obstacles to recycling and reuse.
Bumpers that emit minimal amounts of pollutants
For instance, initially conducted tests on front bumpers revealed that the same quality and performance could be achieved with a reduced number of polymers, resulting in a reduction of 177 tonnes of CO2e over a single model line and a savings of £560,000 (EUR 680,000). Next year, Jaguar Land Rover will install lower carbon bumpers on its new vehicles.
Recycled post-industrial waste from the stamping of aluminium body panels was returned to the supplier for use in the production of new body panels in another project. This necessitated the development of a novel aluminium grade that would be optimally suited for the closed-loop process.
Source: Recycling international
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