End-of-life tyres (ELT) recycler Pyrum Innovations is closing material cycles together with German materials firm BASF SE and auto maker Mercedes-Benz, in line with Mercedes’s target to increase the share of recycled materials in its passenger car fleet to an average of 40% by 2030.
For this purpose, Pyrum is supplying cooperation partner BASF with pyrolysis oil, which is used in combination with biomethane as a raw material in the production of virgin plastics for Mercedes-Benz vehicle components.
To close the recycling loop for ELT, Pyrum will in future produce pyrolysis oil from discarded tyres using its own innovative pyrolysis process. BASF then feeds this into its facility at the start of production. In addition, BASF uses biomethane from agricultural waste, a renewable raw material. Using both raw materials, a completely new plastic is created.
The combination of pyrolysis oil from ELT and biomethane is used for the first time in the cooperation between Pyrum, BASF and Mercedes-Benz. The plastic is certified according to the so-called “mass balance method”: An independent certification confirms that the partner has replaced the quantities of fossil resources required for the end product with renewable raw materials and pyrolysis oil from ELT.
The use of secondary materials reduces both the use of fossil resources and the CO2 footprint in the manufacturing process. The innovative recycled plastic thus has, for the first time, the same properties as virgin plastic made from fossil raw materials. This makes chemical recycling particularly suitable for the production of components that are subject to high quality and safety requirements.
In 2022, the EQE and S-Class will be the first series-production models to be equipped with bow door handles manufactured using a combination of biomethane and pyrolysis oil made from old tyres, instead of raw fossil resources. The S-Class will also come with a crash absorber based on this combination of raw materials. As part of the front end, the part creates a more even distribution of the forces acting on the other car in a frontal crash.
Forthcoming models such as the EQE SUV will be equipped with bow door handles made from this plastic as well. Looking to the future, the aim is to progressively increase the use of this more sustainable recycled material, and also to use chemical recycling in combination with the biomass balance approach for further plastic vehicle parts. The company is currently exploring suitable applications.
Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum said, “Since the foundation of Pyrum, we have been working on getting closer to a circular economy step by step. In view of finite deposits, the aim can only be to minimise the consumption of natural resources and to use as much recycled raw material as possible in production. The fact that our pyrolysis oil is used as a basis for the production of Mercedes-Benz vehicle components shows the high quality of our products.”