Automotive supplier BIA has closed the loop process and started to both recycle chrome components and offer new components based on recycled materials. Discarded chrome components are first crushed. The metal fraction is then separated from the plastic substrate purely mechanically. The purity of the two components is over 99 percent. While the metals can be melted down and separated by type, the plastic is regranulated. The regranulate can then be reused for the production of new raw parts.
Dr. Markus Häp, BIA Automotive Technology Manager, emphasizes: "The use of recyclates for the production of new chrome components has no negative impact on quality and durability. On the contrary, components made with recycled parts or even entirely from recycled plastic and then galvanized show the best adhesion properties in tests commonly used in the industry." Even color differences in the granulate, which varies depending on the admixture factor of recycled plastics, do not pose a problem, for example for components that can be X-rayed. "Color differences in the substrate material can be compensated for by backlighting the components. This was an important requirement and challenge for us in order to be able to implement the use of recycled materials for all our product classes and technologies in a way that is suitable for series production," Häp continues.
So the recycling process for chromed plastic components is in place. However, there is a lack of institutionalized component recycling in the automotive industry. Dr. Häp's clear appeal is therefore: "The infrastructure for recycling used vehicle components must now be created throughout the industry so that they can find their way back into the material cycle at the end of their service life."
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