The Essential Relationship between Automakers and Recyclers
Today, 95% of US vehicles are processed for recycling, but making sure that recovered material makes its way back into a new car is an evolving story. Automakers are increasingly looking for ways to use more recycled material in new vehicles, with many manufacturers setting 30-40% recycled content targets by 2030. However, reaching those goals depends on more than buying recycled steel or aluminum. It also requires designing vehicles so their materials can be recovered, separated, and reused more effectively at the end of their lives in addition to traceability as that material moves through the recycling value chain.
Modern vehicles contain a complex mix of metals, plastics, electronics, adhesives, coatings, and composite materials. While these materials can improve safety, performance, and fuel efficiency, they can also make recycling more difficult. When different materials are bonded together or hard to identify, separating them becomes slower, more expensive, and less precise. Additionally, while complexity has increased, so has the value of the materials within vehicles. The amount of aluminum and copper in a vehicle has more than doubled for certain manufactures, as the industry continues to electrify and decrease the weight of their products. This creates opportunities for processing facilities to extract more value from the end-of-life goods entering their facilities if that material can be effectively segregated.
One way automakers can improve recyclability is by reducing material complexity wherever possible. Using fewer types of alloys or alloys with wider chemistry specifications can make metals easier to sort and preserve their value. Clear material labeling can also help recyclers identify what they are processing and determine best strategies for recovery within their operations. Vehicle design matters as well. Components that are easier to remove during dismantling or separate via shredding can improve recovery rates and reduce contamination.
Continued and increasing collaboration between automakers and recyclers helps to address these challenges. Recyclers have visibility into what happens to vehicles after they leave the road, while automakers control the design and material decisions made at the beginning of a vehicle’s life. Traceability and transparency throughout the entire value chain allows manufacturers to design vehicles with recovery in mind and helps recyclers prepare for new materials entering their facilities.
Better material data is also essential. Automakers and their raw material suppliers need confidence that recycled metals meet quality requirements while metal processors need reliable ways to measure, document, and communicate what is in their material streams. Consistent sampling and quality records can also help connect recovered material with higher-value or emerging manufacturing opportunities.
Effectively recovering all the valuable materials contained within a vehicle is not just an end-of-life challenge. It begins with design and material selection. By considering how materials will be identified, separated, measured, and reused, automakers can help create a more efficient system that keeps critical metals in circulation and supports the reliable supply chain required to produce the next generation of vehicles.
