Why redesigning plastics for automotive is now urgent?

The new regulations aim for a minimum of 20% recycled plastic content in new vehicles, with a quarter of that coming specifically from recycled ELVs, presenting both challenges and opportunities for vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers.

It implies revisiting the design rules for plastic parts. Ensuring full recyclability and, by extension, utilising recycled content from a closed-loop system is impacting current engineering solutions and material selection.

Automotive plastic parts design is likely to offer solutions that avoid assemblies or provide suitable cosmetic options to enhance perceived quality. Using 2K moulding, metallisation, or painting are efficient processes to achieve the right design within cost targets. However, at the end of life, they recreate a bottleneck, especially for mechanical recycling. So, the general guidelines for building automotive equipment are facing a disruptive change.

First target : motion to recycled polypropylene plastic

Firstly, when using post-consumer recycled content, we need to select the appropriate part categories to accommodate such materials. Polypropylene plastic parts are the most evident ones, as recycled PP feedstock is widely available in the market through established collection and processing channels. However, the final technical performance must be met, not only in terms of thermomechanical properties but also in colour matching and emission requirements set by automotive manufacturers. Specific challenges include maintaining dimensional stability, impact resistance, and heat deflection properties comparable to virgin materials. Additionally, volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions must be carefully controlled to meet strict automotive interior air quality standards. For this reason, Benvic is now developing a comprehensive range with carefully selected rPP feedstock and the correct formulation to meet these targets, incorporating advanced stabilization packages and precise quality control processes. Our manufacturing process ensures consistent batch-to-batch properties, making these recycled materials suitable for injection molding of automotive plastic parts such as interior trim, under-hood components, and non-structural elements.

Think outside the box

For other parts, then the paradigm must be different, and as a compounder, we have to think outside the box. A focus on specific recycled feedstocks from other applications, which are widely available and often associated with particular reformulations, is fueling the development of new options. Due to single-use plastic regulations, the automotive industry can utilise a significant amount of recycled materials from other segments, such as packaging, for technical parts. Reformulations help narrow the gap between existing virgin polymers. This original Benvic approach will make available new products, primarily post-consumer polyester blends, to replace ABS/PC. Other solutions are also in the design phase.

Plastic recycling is not the only one option

On the aesthetic side, mechanically recycled polymers, which offer a better life cycle assessment than chemical recycling, sometimes provide some limitations in terms of surface quality and color consistency. In such cases, biobased polymers could be the right option, offering a good combination of lower GHG emissions and versatility to achieve colour-matching or glossy surfaces. These materials demonstrate excellent potential for both interior and exterior applications where visual appeal is crucial. While thermomechanical performances are typically lower than those of technopolymers, particularly in areas requiring high heat resistance and dimensional stability, Benvic formulations can overcome such limitations by offering significant improvements through advanced polymer engineering and innovative additives. The Plantura range, the bio-based compound family from Benvic, will soon be introduced to new grades to meet this challenge, with specific focus on enhanced UV stability and improved impact resistance for automotive applications.

Performance & sustainability

Automotive engineering is facing a disruption in terms of polymer choices: environmental impact is as vital as technical one, but keeping the cost factor under control. The industry must balance performance requirements with sustainability goals while maintaining competitive pricing structures. New automotive unit design rules need to emerge, considering not only mechanical properties but also end-of-life scenarios and carbon footprint calculations. This is where Benvic can provide its support at the early design stages to make the right choices: redesigning automotive parts is possible if redesigning plastic is feasible, for good!

Our expertise in polymer science and sustainable materials enables manufacturers to develop components that meet both current performance standards and future environmental regulations.

Please join us at the next K show to explore all the exciting options for your product's future.