Covestro, Neste and Borealis collaborate to recycle tires into automotive parts

Covestro, Neste and Borealis have signed an agreement to recycle discarded tires into high-quality plastics for the automotive industry. This collaboration aims to enhance circularity in the plastics value chain and automotive applications.

“This project can serve as a blueprint when it comes to establishing circularity in the field of plastics in cars,” explained Jeroen Verhoeven, VP of value chain development for polymers and chemicals at Neste. “It shows how low-quality waste materials can be turned into very high-quality plastics. This is good news for the polymers and automotive industries as well as for the environment.”

The process begins with Neste, a producer of sustainable fuels, which converts liquefied discarded tires into high-quality raw materials for polymers and chemicals manufacturing. Borealis, a provider of polyolefin solutions, then processes these raw materials into base chemicals, specifically phenol and acetone. These are supplied to Covestro, which then uses them to produce high-purity polycarbonates suitable for various automotive parts, such as headlamps and radiator grilles.

The recycled content is attributed via the mass balance approach, for traceability and sustainability throughout the production process, and is ISCC Plus certified.

The first products from this collaboration are already available – each partner has produced their initial batch. Beyond polycarbonates, the project may also explore the potential of polyurethanes for automotive interiors.

The companies also said that the process should be taken into consideration when new EU regulations are set: “The potential to scale-up these types of developments should be considered when setting ambitious targets for future EU regulations, such as the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation”.