Munich. Through the Car2Car research project, the BMW Group and its consortium partners have demonstrated that high-quality material loops are technically feasible in the automotive industry. Under expanded processing and sorting conditions, it was possible to increase the “Car2Car rate” from six to 51 percent. The “Car2Car rate”, as defined by the project, is the percentage of materials from an end-of-life vehicle that can, in principle, be recovered at high enough quality for reuse in new industrial applications. Particularly high recovery potentials were achieved for steel, aluminium and copper, whereas significant technological challenges remain for plastics and glass. At the same time, the project demonstrates which conditions, investments and regulatory frameworks will be necessary to further scale high-quality material loops in the future. The results are based on a research and demonstration approach under optimal processing and sorting conditions.

Sorting and processing unlock high-quality material loops

Various recovery scenarios were explored as part of the research project. The findings show that additional processing and sorting steps can significantly increase the potential of high-quality material loops. The steps include improved pre-sorting, modified shredding processes, classification, sensor-based sorting of material streams and more precise separation of aluminium alloys. Using methods currently standard in the market, the project achieved a “Car2Car rate” of six percent across all five focus material groups during a vehicle recycling trial with minimal compulsory dismantling. With the help of advanced process engineering and optimised processing routes, the rate climbed to 51 percent. Under these conditions, the “Car2Car rate” increased from one to 81 percent for steel, from 23 to 52 percent for aluminium and from 48 to 68 percent for copper.

The findings confirm the considerable potential for high-quality material loops, especially for metals. At the same time, the results clearly demonstrate that this potential cannot be applied equally across all material groups. Specifically, further development is required for plastics and glass. To achieve large-scale industrial implementation, additional investments will be needed in disassembly, sorting and recycling infrastructure, as well as corresponding regulatory frameworks.

Steel shows potential of high-quality material loops

The project’s key findings are illustrated by the example of steel. Up until now, copper-bearing impurities from cables, connectors and other components have hindered the recycling of end-of-life vehicle scrap into high-quality automotive steels. The Car2Car project has now demonstrated that an additional processing step can substantially improve scrap quality. Copper contamination was reduced in a targeted manner by sorting the steel scrap. This ensures high-quality steel scrap as the starting material for new flat steel that meets the requirements of modern automotive applications. A patent application has been filed for this process.

The so-called steel coils produced using this method were integrated into industrial production following successful material and quality testing. In a field test conducted at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, more than 100,000 series parts were produced for use in vehicles. The project thus demonstrates, along a real industrial value chain, that new vehicle components can be manufactured from end-of-life vehicles. However, for large-scale industrial implementation, scalable process chains, additional infrastructure and viable business models are still needed.

Huge potential for metals, further development needed for plastics and glass

At the same time, the project highlighted that progress towards a circular economy varies, depending on the material and the technology available. While recycling processes are already in place for metals such as steel, aluminium and copper, there is still a lack of solutions for plastics and glass that meet the automotive industry's high quality standards.

The wide variety of materials, complex composite material structures and stringent quality requirements make it difficult to produce high-quality recyclates for high-end automotive applications. For plastics, in particular, it has become evident that precisely tailored process chains comprising various sorting and processing technologies will be needed in the future to consistently achieve the material quality necessary for automotive material loops.

Insights for next-generation circular vehicle concepts

The findings from Car2Car will feed into further development of the BMW Group's circular economy, confirming its established Design for Circularity approaches. They will also help design vehicles even more systematically for high-quality material loops. Cooperation with end-of-life vehicle recycling partners, such as PreZero, can also benefit from the experience gained through this project.

Beyond the BMW Group and the participating project partners, the Car2Car findings also provide an important data basis for further development of the entire automotive recycling landscape. In the context of future regulatory requirements, such as the European ELV Regulation, Car2Car illustrates which technological, economic and structural conditions must be created to enable higher material recovery rates and closed material loops. This includes innovation and investment in disassembly, sorting and recycling technologies, increased digitalisation and framework conditions that promote transparency, quality and the return of materials to European material loops.

Car2Car does not focus on what is already standard today but highlights the potential that high-quality material loops could offer in the future. Whether this potential will be realised depends not only on technical feasibility, but also on factors such as access to end-of-life vehicles, favourable market conditions, investment and viable business models throughout the entire recycling value chain.

Quotes

“The circular economy is an integral part of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy. Car2Car shows that its full potential can be realised when the entire value chain is optimised. Together with our partners, we are using the project findings to develop new process and business models that combine environmental and economic benefits, and advance the transition towards a circular automotive industry.”
Alexander Efthimiou, Senior Vice President Business Development, BMW Group

“With Car2Car, we wanted to understand under which conditions materials from end-of-life vehicles can be reused in new cars. The project has shown the potential in current material streams from end-of-life vehicles that have not yet been optimised for high-quality material loops. The most significant progress was seen with steel: We were able to demonstrate that high-quality flat steel for automotive applications can be produced from end-of-life vehicle scrap. In the field test at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, more than 100,000 series parts were produced using this steel and installed in vehicles – making the project’s results tangible.”
Hilke Schaer, Car2Car project manager, BMW Group

Broad consortium spanning the entire value chain

The Car2Car research project brings together partners from the automotive industry, materials manufacturing, the recycling industry and academia. The aim was to investigate the recovery of materials from end-of-life vehicles for use in new automotive applications along the entire value chain. A further objective was to identify suitable process routes for high-quality material loops.

The consortium included BMW AG, TU Bergakademie Freiberg (MVTAT, IEST and IGT institutes), the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (part of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)), Technical University of Munich (Professorship of Circular Economy, Chair of Materials Handling, Material Flow and Logistics (fml) and the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb)), Scholz Recycling, STEINERT UniSort, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung, Aurubis, Novelis Germany, OETINGER Aluminium and Pilkington Automotive Germany.

The final report of the full Car2Car consortium is available for download here. The BMW Group-specific final report can be found here.

FAQ:

What is the Car2Car research project?
Car2Car is a research project focused on the recovery of materials from end-of-life vehicles for use in new automotive applications. It investigated under which conditions high-quality material loops are possible along the automotive value chain.

What was the project's key finding?
The key finding was that it was possible to increase the “Car2Car rate” from six to 51 percent under expanded processing and sorting conditions. Particularly high recovery potentials were achieved for steel, aluminium and copper. A key factor is that these results were achieved without dismantling end-of-life vehicles beyond the compulsory disassembly currently standard in the industry before recycling.

What does the “Car2Car rate” mean?
The “Car2Car rate” refers to the percentage of materials from an end-of-life vehicle that can, in principle, be recovered at high enough quality for reuse in new automotive applications. It is therefore more than just a conventional recycling rate. The decisive factor is not just whether a material can be recycled, but whether it can be returned to the automotive material loop with a comparable level of quality.

Which materials were the main focus?
The main focus of the project was on steel, aluminium and copper. Potential and limits for plastics and glass were also considered.

Why is steel particularly relevant?
In the case of steel, it was possible to demonstrate that just one additional processing step, in the form of sorting, can reduce copper-bearing impurities, resulting in high-quality steel scrap. This was then used to produce flat steel for modern automotive applications.

Have the results been tested on an industrial scale?
Yes. In the field test at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, more than 100,000 series parts were produced from recovered steel and then installed in vehicles. In this way, it was possible to demonstrate, along a real-world industrial value chain, that new vehicle components can be produced from end-of-life vehicles. However, this industrial field test does not yet mean that the relevant recycling and processing processes are widely available on the market.

How many end-of-life vehicles were examined in the field test?

The field test covered 433 vehicles from 60 different BMW Group models, including test vehicles that were less than five years old. 

Where is further development needed?
Comparable progress has not been achieved with plastics and glass to the same extent as with steel, aluminium and copper. Further innovation is required in areas such as vehicle design, disassembly, sorting and recycling.

Overview of key findings

If you have any questions, please contact:

BMW Group
Communications

Isabel Richter

Press spokesperson

Head of Sustainability Communications BMW Group

Telephone: +49-151-601-53189

Email: Isabel.Richter@bmw.de 

The BMW Group

With its four brands, BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial services. The BMW Group production network comprises over 30 production sites worldwide; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2025, the BMW Group sold 2.46 million passenger vehicles and more than 202,500 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2025 was € 10.2 billion on revenues amounting to € 133.5 billion. As of 31 December 2025, the BMW Group had a workforce of 154,540 employees.

The economic success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. Sustainability is a key element of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy and covers all products – from the supply chain through production to the end of their useful life.

www.bmwgroup.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/bmwgroup

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmwgroup

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bmwgroup

X: https://www.x.com/bmwgroup

Munich/Wackersdorf. The BMW Group is relocating its Recycling and Dismantling Centre (RDC) from Unterschleißheim to the company’s Wackersdorf site, with a significant expansion. At the new location, a technologically state-of-the-art competence centre for circularity is being built, advancing vehicle dismantling and recycling expertise for the future. Commissioning is scheduled for early 2029.

“The circular economy is a key element of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy,” says Jörg Lederbauer, Vice-President Circular Economy, Spare Parts Supply High Voltage Battery and Electric Powertrain at the BMW Group. “Our new competence centre in Wackersdorf will be a core component of our circular value chain and will help make the mobility of the future more resource efficient. We want to find the best way to keep materials in the cycle, ensuring that resources retain their value for further use in the long term. This will also reduce our dependence on primary raw materials. At the same time, the use of high-quality secondary materials will continue to significantly lower our vehicles’ carbon footprint.”

For more than 30 years, at its current location in Unterschleißheim, near Munich, the BMW Group Recycling and Dismantling Centre (RDC) has developed methods aimed at achieving significant advances in the recycling of parts and the recovery of materials, and has tested them in practice. The insights gained by the RDC into the recyclability of components and materials, in line with Design for Circularity principles, are already incorporated into product development at the BMW Group. These insights also feed into the cooperation with PreZero, which the BMW Group recently entered into in order to leverage the strategic and economic potential of the circular economy in end‑of‑life vehicle recycling. 

The recycling industry’s global network also benefits from the work of the RDC. Around 3,000 businesses in 32 countries rely on a shared recycling database for information on how recyclable components can be disassembled cost-effectively and valuable materials efficiently recovered.

At the future site, process, material and technology development will be even more closely integrated with vehicle recycling operations. The new scope of activities at the Competence Centre Circularity includes the recycling of hydrogen vehicles, automation of dismantling processes and development of expertise in innovative shredding and sorting technologies.

The BMW Group sees Wackersdorf as the ideal new location for the Competence Centre Circularity, with BMW Group Plant Wackersdorf having embodied flexibility for decades: Housing cockpit production, the Rolls-Royce door and flap production centre, parts supply for overseas plants and the battery testing centre, the site has wide-ranging expertise and is firmly established within the BMW Group network.

“In recent years, the company has set a decisive course for the future of the Wackersdorf location. Throughout this process, the entire plant team has consistently demonstrated flexibility. Building the competence centre for circularity here provides our site with a broader foundation. In this way, we are tapping into an attractive, future-oriented area of activity,” says Stefan Betz, head of BMW Group Plant Wackersdorf.

“The company is systematically continuing its successful transformation. Establishing the new Competence Centre Circularity here represents an important strategic decision by the company in favour of the Wackersdorf location – and, above all, its employees. As employee representatives, we also supported this,” says André Mandl, Works Council Chairman for BMW Group Plants Regensburg and Wackersdorf.

“In Wackersdorf, BMW has been a strong partner by our side for many decades. We are delighted that the BMW Group is reaffirming its commitment to the location with this move. It sends a clear signal for our site and for sustainable future technologies,” says Thomas Falter, Mayor of Wackersdorf.

“The cutting-edge Competence Centre Circularity will make a major contribution to regional value creation and further development of the circular economy,” adds Thomas Ebeling, District Administrator of Schwandorf District. “In combination with the trechnology transfer centre planned for Wackersdorf by the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences and the University of Applied Sciences Amberg Weiden, close integration of business and academia on the circular economy will now also be possible. In this way, we are strengthening the region.”

Following the location decision, the detailed planning phase for the Competence Centre Circularity at the new site can now begin. The existing RDC in Unterschleißheim will remain fully operational until the relocation. The BMW Group will provide further information on the next steps in due course.

Munich. The BMW Group uses plastic wire (filament) and granulate from waste 3D printing powder and used parts to produce new components using the 3D printing technology. Waste powder generated from production of thousands of components each year and previously been disposed of, along with shredded used parts, is now processed into new filament. The filament is rolled onto spools like wire, which can then be used to print new items, such as auxiliary production devices and tools. This filament is used at the Additive Manufacturing Campus in Oberschleißheim, as well as at various sites across the BMW Group's global production network. In addition to recycled filament for the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) process, the Campus also provides recycled granulate for use in Fused Granulate Fabrication (FGF) technology, thus enabling manufacturing of large tools.

“I’ve been involved with this project from the very beginning and I’m thrilled to see how far we’ve come – from our initial ideas and attempts at startup level to now being able to produce large quantities of highly robust components from recycled filament at any BMW Group production location. It’s incredibly exciting to continuously develop and test new processes. The use of waste powder and discarded 3D printing components is a key element of a functional and efficient circular economy,” says Paul Victor Osswald, project manager for Predevelopment Non-Metals, who has worked on this development since 2018.

First steps taken in 2018 with innovative “bottleUP” project
The foundation for today’s 3D printing loop at the BMW Group was first established in 2018. As part of the BMW Start-up Accelerator programme, the innovative “bottleUP” project focused on obtaining 3D printing material for various applications by recycling PET bottles. Just one year later, the first industrial waste was being used to produce recycled filament on a pilot basis. By 2021, Osswald’s team successfully printed the first holders and auxiliary production devices using their own recycled filament. Today, various locations across the BMW Group’s global production network are supplied with 3D-printed components from the Additive Manufacturing Campus in Oberschleißheim, where the company has consolidated its production, research and training activities in additive manufacturing under one roof. Each year, up to 12 tonnes of waste powder can be recycled into filament and granulate and can then be reused for the manufacture of auxiliary production devices in the plants and for pre-development projects at the Additive Manufacturing Campus. The use of these components reduces costs, enhances process efficiency and product quality, and improves ergonomics for employees at the plants.

Additive Manufacturing Campus supports production sites with comprehensive package of recycled filament, printing parameters and expertise
As part of the BMW Group’s centre of competence concept, the Additive Manufacturing Campus facilitates the ongoing rollout of its in-house developed recycling filament. It enables locations by sharing expertise and providing comprehensive solutions. In collaboration with established and experienced 3D printing facilities at BMW Group production plants, suitable 3D printers are tested, and optimised printing parameters for the recycled filament are developed and validated for the respective models. This package – consisting of printer recommendations, recycled filament and validated parameter settings – is then made available to other plants. This ensures that locations are efficiently enabled and can quickly achieve high-quality printing results on site. The Campus provides further support by building know-how at the plants through relevant skills development and training opportunities. This includes foundational courses in 3D printing, advanced training on the topic of design for additive manufacturing and application-focused sessions on integrating 3D printing into the production environment. A strong and constantly evolving network has developed across the sites, benefiting from knowledge-sharing and mutual support. The next 3D printing facility, which is currently under construction at Plant Debrecen in Hungary, will benefit from the network’s experience and will support the new production plant for the Neue Klasse going forward.

3D printing at BMW Group production sites: proven driver of success
Installation and operation of 3D printers throughout the BMW Group's production network will ensure the successful implementation and continuous rollout of 3D printing technology. Thanks to rapid on-site response times, components can be available within just a few days – or even hours, in some cases. This enables short iteration loops and swift optimisations, helping prevent assembly line downtimes. The flexibility and design freedom of 3D printing spark creative ideas and solutions that can be developed and implemented directly by employees on the ground. Collaboration between the 3D printing facilities at the plants and the Additive Manufacturing Campus continuously drives further development of 3D printing and consistently leads to new applications and optimisations within the BMW Group’s production system.

Printed components for diverse applications
The use of 3D printing at the BMW Group’s production plants continues to expand. Today, every BMW Group plant is equipped with a 3D printer, enabling local production of several hundred thousand components each year. The areas of application are highly diverse – ranging from ergonomic and occupational safety solutions for employees to scratch protection, fitting aids and special manufacturing equipment, up to and including gauges, templates, special tools and tool organisation. Mould cavities, pre-assembly mounts and even entire grippers can be produced with the help of 3D printing.

A wide variety of components are now being printed with recycled filament.

For instance, at BMW Group Plant Munich, a specific component used in the marriage of chassis and body is now being 3D-printed. This component temporarily secures the steering rod in a defined position, allowing it to be guided through the opening in the body without risk of collision. The reusable component is installed in the vehicle shortly before the marriage and then removed again afterwards.

At the BMW Motorrad plant in Berlin, 3D-printed support pedestals are used in applying decor to the motorcycles’ trim panel. The pedestals, which are customised to fit the trim panel components precisely, also feature locking mechanisms. This ensures the components are held securely in place, preventing them from slipping while the decor is applied.

Solutions to optimise operations are often developed in response to acute workplace needs. For example, employees at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing have developed their own fitting aids to prevent screws from being lost during their assembly in the vehicles. Using 3D printing, a holder for magnetic screw attachment on various cordless screwdrivers has been developed which enables the screws to be carried safely.


If you have any questions, please contact:

Corporate Communications
Benedikt Torka
BMW Group, Communication Production Network
Cell phone: +49-151-601-32455
Email: Benedikt.Torka@bmwgroup.com

Sandra Schillmöller
Head of Communications Production Network BMW Group
Cell phone: +49-151-601-12225
Email: Sandra.Schillmoeller@bmwgroup.com

Media website: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en
Email: presse@bmwgroup.com