July 31, 2019—Jaguar Land Rover is trialing a recycling process which converts plastic waste into new premium grade material that could factor into future cars.
Working in conjunction with BASF, Jaguar Land Rover is part of a pilot project called ChemCycling that upcycles domestic waste plastic, otherwise destined for landfill or incinerators, into a new high-quality material.
The waste plastic is transformed to pyrolysis oil using a thermochemical process. This secondary raw material is then fed into BASF’s production chain as a replacement for fossil resources; ultimately producing a new premium grade that replicates the quality and performance of ‘virgin’ plastics. It can be tempered and colored.
Jaguar Land Rover and BASF are currently testing the pilot phase material in a Jaguar I-PACE prototype front-end carrier overmoulding to verify it meets the same safety requirements of the existing original part.
