China's automotive industry, driven by the surge in demand for electric vehicles and cost advantages in production, is poised to become the world's largest exporter of automobiles by the end of 2023. Against this backdrop, China's policy trends regarding recycled plastics and the proactive responses within the automotive sector are worth noting.
China's Policy Trends on Recycled Plastics
China's automotive industry has corresponding quantifiable content design for recycled plastics, as outlined in the "Implementation Plan for the Pilot Extension of Producer Responsibility for Automotive Products" released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This plan specifies that the recycling ratio for key components should exceed 5%, showing a significant gap compared to the latest EU quantification target of 25%. Undoubtedly, China's automotive industry's management of recycled materials will move towards higher quantified targets. However, whether these more stringent targets align with the EU's and reach 25% is still uncertain. Still, the development trend of this policy appears to be clear.
Estimated Demand for Recycled Plastics in China's Automotive Industry
With the increasing strictness of domestic and international policies and the continuous development and transformation of China's automotive industry, once domestic policies align with those of the EU, it will quickly open up growth space for the recycled plastics industry.
Indeed, we can estimate the demand for recycled plastics in the automotive sector through some numbers. If we base our estimation on industry data, such as the volume of recycled plastics from scrapped cars, the production volume of recycled plastics, and China's annual automobile production, we can roughly calculate the demand for recycled plastics in the automotive sector. Taking the example of the year 2022, with 1.1 million tons of recycled plastic sourced from scrapped cars, 15.5 million tons of recycled plastic production, and 27.02 million vehicle productions, the demand for recycled plastics in the automotive sector was approximately 200,000 tons.
"Of course, this estimate may not be very accurate mathematically, but we can roughly see the magnitude. From the data, it can be seen that the demand for recycled plastics in the automotive sector is not low, even much higher than we might imagine. This is still before the EU's new proposal is fully determined, indicating a high-growth trend in the demand for recycled plastics in the automotive industry on the day when the EU's new proposal is forcibly implemented," summarized Ms. Fan Lihua.
Proactive Responses from Major Automotive Companies
At present, major global automotive companies and first-tier suppliers have been actively cooperating with partners in the plastic recycling field to carry out sustainability projects. Companies like Audi, BMW, and other European groups are promoting projects to expand the use of recycled plastics. These collaborative projects involve both mechanical and chemical recycling routes, suitable for different polymer types in specific applications.
Volvo's Pure Electric Car EX30 with 17% Recycled Plastic:
On June 7th, Volvo Cars unveiled the all-new compact electric luxury SUV, the EX30. This vehicle boasts the lowest carbon footprint of all Volvo models to date, reducing lifecycle carbon emissions by 25% compared to the C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge electric cars. In terms of materials, the EX30 includes 17% recycled plastic, covering interior components, external bumpers, and more. The vehicle achieves a recycling rate of up to 95% when scrapped.
Volkswagen's Plans for Mass Adoption of Recycled Materials in Electric Cars:
Volkswagen extensively uses recycled materials in its ID.Buzz model and plans to expand this practice across the entire ID series.
The interior components of Buzz use ocean-recycled plastic, produced from
