BURSCHEID, Germany,
Dec. 2,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Adient, Jaguar Land
Rover (JLR) and Dow have worked together to produce seat foam
for the luxury car manufacturer's vehicles using closed-loop
recycled components. This represents an industry-first in the
automotive sector, heading towards a circular economy and a lower
CO2 footprint for cars as the end product.
In order to address the environmental impact of polyurethane
(PU) foams used in car seats, the industry partners decided to
team up. This means so-called 'post-consumer' PU molded foams have
previously been collected from end-of-life vehicles, sorted, and
shredded. On this basis, Dow produces a new, circular polyol, which
is subsequently processed and integrated into Adient's seating
formulas. As a result, the Adient Front Seat Cushion prototypes are
currently composed of 20% re-polyol from PU end-of-life
vehicles.
This is the first time, to the awareness of all parties
involved, that a PU molded foam for seating applications has been
produced under these conditions. This milestone represents a
significant leap forward for the automotive industry, positioning
PU at the heart of a circular economy system. By integrating
recycled components into luxury vehicle seat foams, the partners
are not only reducing the environmental impact but also paving the
way for a more sustainable future in automotive manufacturing.
"Developing components with closed-loop recycled foams
represents a major milestone for the team and simultaneously spurs
us on to continuously increase the proportion of recycled
materials in our seating systems in the future," said Frank Toenniges, Director Sustainable Product
Design & Business Process Improvements at Adient at Adient.
"Additionally, it positions the actors along the value chain
favorably to comply with the proposed European End-of-Life
Directive."
Andrea Debbane, Chief
Sustainability Officer at JLR stated: "This breakthrough is a great
example of how the automotive value chain can work as a collective
to demonstrate that full circularity is feasible and unlock
meaningful change at scale. This way of working holds significant
potential for increasing sustainability and is critical to JLR's
transition to more circular vehicles."
As a next step, further research will be conducted to increase
the percentage of re-polyol content. At the same time, the
closed-loop seat foam will be tested with JLR on a production scale
from early 2025.
About Adient:
Adient (NYSE: ADNT)
is a global leader in automotive seating. With 70,000+ employees in
29 countries, Adient operates more than 200
manufacturing/assembly plants worldwide. We produce and deliver
automotive seating for all major OEMs. From complete seating
systems to individual foam, trim and metal components, our
expertise spans every step of the automotive seat-making process.
Our integrated, in-house skills allow us to take our products from
research and design to engineering and manufacturing — and into
millions of vehicles every year.
For more information, visit www.adient.com.
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SOURCE Adient