AUTOMOTIVE | INNOVATION
Right: The VW T-Roc incorpo- rates around 40 kg of plastic components from recycled sources
ment time, Canon affirms that it can accurately identify even black plastics, which typically present weak signals to other technologies. Honda announced a new “chemical sorting” technology, which sorts and extracts reusable plastics from waste plastic parts, containing solid contaminants associated with automotive waste: rubber hoses and gaskets, reinforcing materials (such as glass fibres) and metals. The solid contami- nant separation technology uses chemical sorting, which dissolves the resin into a solvent to remove contaminants and extract a high-purity material. Waste plastic parts contain solid contaminants of various sizes. Conventional separation methods require filters and sorting processes for each target contaminant. Since the sizes vary, the filter mesh must be set very fine, causing clogging. By using coarse-mesh filters that are less prone to clogging to sort out millimeter-sized coarse contaminants, and using centrifuges to physically separate micrometer-sizedfine contaminants, the new chemical sorting technology developed by Honda eliminates the need to adjust the specifica- tions of removal filters depending on the size of each contaminant, enabling the thorough removal of contaminants of all sizes.
Recycled content The use of the newly developed chemical sorting technology enabled Honda to improve the solid contaminant separation rate to more than 99%. “After undergoing mechanical and chemical recycling processes, reusable plastics extracted through the chemical sorting technology will be reused as automotive materials, enabling closed- loop recycling”, explains the company in a press release.
Honda will build a pilot facility with a maximum processing capacity of 350 tonnes/yr and verify the
IMAGE: VOLKSWAGEN
Above: Borouge International has developed Borcycle GE2331SY, a high-performance recycled PP compound designed for demanding structural automotive components
14 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | May/June 2026
technology by the end of 2026, striving to put it into practical use by around 2029. Applications incorporating recycled plastic content and developments of new grades based on post-consumer recyclate are increasing day by day. A noticeable example is the new Volkswagen T-Roc, a pioneer for the brand in terms of recycled materials incorporation. Up to 140 exterior and interior components are manufactured entirely or partially from recycled materials, accounting for around 40 kg, which is 16% of the total plastic mass installed in the model. The largest components made from recycled materials include the under- body paneling and luggage compartment trim, headliner, front door trims, wheel housing liners and floor coverings. Also, up to 85% of the textiles used contain recycled materials, largely sourced from PET bottle flakes. Toyota announced in July last year that its model Crown Sport has incorporated for the first time recycled plastic derived from ASR (Automo- tive Shredder Residue) in the front fender seal. The group company KK Planic is the supplier of the material, and is one of the largest recycled plastic manufacturing companies in Japan. This success derives from a new technology, called advanced gravity separation, used by Planic to overcome the challenges associated with the sorting of collected plastics that include ASR. As for new grades, Borouge International announced the global launch of Borcycle GE2331SY, a new high-performance, recycled PP compound designed for demanding structural automotive components. The launch builds on the success of Borcycle GD3600SY, introduced in 2024 with 65% PCR content, expanding the global reach of the Borcycle M portfolio. The glass-fibre reinforced compound combines 40% post-consumer recycled material with 20% glass fibres to deliver the strength required for inte- rior structural parts. It is already being used by
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
IMAGE: BOROUGE
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