Page 46 - Plastics News Issue October 2025
P. 46
COMPANY NEWS
BASF DEVELOPS NEW PROCESSES FOR
RECYCLING OF POLYAMIDES FROM ELVS
Depolymerization of dismantled end-of-life pol-
yamide components
BASF has developed an innovative chemical re-
cycling process that sets new standards in the
recycling of technical plastics and demonstrated
the capabilities in a pilot project. This process
makes it possible to recycle even heavily used
and contaminated plastic parts – ZF Group used
oil pans from ELVs – efficiently and sustainably
at the end of their life cycle.
igh-quality recyclates instead of inciner- At the core of the process is depolymeriza-
ation where dismantled parts and com- tion, where the long polyamide chains are bro-
Hplex waste streams such as automotive ken down at their inherent cleavage points into
shredder residue (ASR) are turned back into their original building blocks: the monomers. In
high-quality plastics. Pilot projects with ZF and the subsequent step, the monomer caprolac-
Pöppelmann demonstrate near-series applica- tam obtained from the depolymerization of PA6
tions using components for Mercedes-Benz. is purified. This allows potentially disruptive im-
purities from the material's history of use to be
At this year's K 2025 (October 8-15) to be held completely removed.
in Dusseldorf, BASF and its partners will be pre-
senting two pioneering technologies that enable These impurities would have remained in the
the recycling of polyamides from end-of-life ve- material during mechanical recycling and would
hicles (ELVs). have potentially impaired the quality and safety
of the recycled material. The material is then re-
While the recovery of metals from decommis- polymerized into high-quality polyamide, which
sioned vehicles has been successfully practiced is further processed into a polyamide compound
for decades, around 200 kilograms of plastic per in accordance with the requirements of the ap-
vehicle often end up being incinerated. BASF's plication. This meets the highest quality stand-
new technologies aim to change this, particularly ards and is suitable for demanding components
in view of the upcoming regulatory requirements in the automotive industry – closing the loop
of the End-of-Life Vehicle Regulation (ELVR). Pi- automotive-to-automotive.
lot projects demonstrate how automotive waste
can be used as a material and fed back into a "What used to be considered non-recyclable
closed cycle for the automotive industry. is now the starting point for high-quality new
46 PLASTICS NEWS October 2025
