Darrell M. West

Your new BMW could make you feel like a fish out of water - as in the future parts will be made from recycled fishing nets.In a first for the automotive industry, from 2025 models of their NEUE KLASSE cars will feature trim parts made of plastic whose raw material contains around 30 percent recycled nets and ropes. This raw material is proactively sourced at ports all around the world to ensure that it doesn’t end up being discarded in the sea.In an exclusive recycling process, waste material from the maritime industry is used to produce trim parts suitable for the exterior and interior of future vehicles. The resulting components have an approximately 25 percent lower carbon footprint than their counterparts made from conventionally manufactured plastics.The BMW Group is working with different approaches to use plastic waste from the maritime industry as a raw material for vehicle components in order to conserve valuable resources and reduce CO2 emissions. This form of recycling makes it possible to reduce the need for petroleum-based primary plastics and at the same time counteract ocean pollution.Recycled nylon waste forms the basis for a synthetic yarn from which the floor mats in the BMW iX and the new BMW X1, for example, are made. This material, known as ECONYL, is made from discarded fishing nets well as worn floor coverings and residual waste from plastics production.In a new initiative developed in cooperation with the Danish company PLASTIX, the BMW Group is taking the recycling of maritime plastic waste a step further. After separation, fishing nets and ropes undergo an innovative process that produces plastic granules. While recycled maritime plastic has so far only been used in the automotive industry in the form of fibres for new vehicle components, this recycled material is now also suitable for the injection moulding process for the first time. The raw material for the components manufactured in this way can consist of around 30 percent mari

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Artificial Intelligence

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2018.01.03_metro_Local transportation investment photo

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Alipay's facial recognition payment solution "Smile to Pay" is seen at KFC's new KPRO restaurant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China September 1, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA. - RC13F17F7AA0

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