Rhodia and its partners create a polyamide recycling channel for end-of-life vehicles

Lyon, France – April 7, 2010 – Rhodia and its partners Renault, INDRA SAS / Re-source Industries, Steep and Mann+Hummel have made a commitment to create a polyamide recycling channel for end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). The partners have a common desire to work together to develop solutions that will contribute to reaching compliance with European regulatory requirements, which have set a minimum recycling and reuse rate of 95% for ELVs as of 2015.

Rhodia’s objective is to contribute to the emergence of recycling outlets aimed at providing end-of-life solutions for its product applications and to continue the development of its 4earthTM ranges of recycled polyamide.

According to Richard Bourdon, Rhodia Polyamide’s recycling development manager, “This innovative initiative illustrates Rhodia’s intent to enter into closed-loop partnerships with key players in the polyamide markets, who are themselves convinced of the interest of commercializing eco-designed products incorporating high-performance recycled materials from responsible and sustainable channels.”

“We are delighted that this development model is being extended to the automotive industry in collaboration with pioneering partners in the area of ecological management of end-of-life vehicles. The support of ADEME [the French Environment and Energy Management Agency] confirms the relevance of our approach and substantiates the viability of this channel and the environmental benefits it will generate,” confirms François Hincker, president of Rhodia Polyamide’s Engineering Plastics business unit.

Eric Lecointre of ADEME’s EPR and Recycling Department underscores “the strategic complementarities of the partners participating in this polyamide recycling project. To meet the reuse, recycling and recovery objectives set for the year 2015, the recycling of non-metal materials from ELVs, including plastics, cannot be avoided. This initiative fits perfectly into this framework and should therefore help France meet these objectives by organizing a vital recycling channel for one of the many plastic materials used in vehicles.”

For Renault, this project is seen an extension of the joint venture created in February 2008 between Renault and Sita to accelerate the rollout in France of ELV processing and develop the Renault Eco2 label, which is intended to accompany the growing use of recycled materials in vehicles.

Marielle Marchand, recycling project manager for the Renault Materials Division, commented as follows: “The inclusion of all stakeholders of the polyamide sector – from the collection of end-of-life parts up to the re-incorporation of the material into automotive parts –, is a real plus in demonstrating the viability of polyamide recycling from end-of-life vehicles.”

For Mann+Hummel France, which specializes in under-hood parts (particularly, air and liquid circulation and filter systems), environmental protection is one of the fundamental components of its development strategy.

“Environmental protection is omnipresent in our corporate culture and at each stage of our operations: in our production facilities, our research centers and with our customer and supplier partners. After implementing an efficient and reliable environmental system at our manufacturing sites, this project is a perfect complement to our eco-design process situated well upstream of our standard production activities. It will allow us to recycle our own polyamide parts, as well as those of other manufacturers, into our future products,” affirms Christophe Guyomard, technical director at Mann+Hummel France.

For INDRA SAS / Re-Source industries, the leading French player in the distribution management and dismantling of end-of-life vehicles, this project is a perfect match for the strategy developed over the last 10 years, focused on research & development and the industrialization of recycling outlets for the various materials present in ELVs.

According to Olivier Gaudeau, engineering director of INDRA SAS / Re-source Industries, “This is an exemplary project, both in terms of the composition of its investor pool and its ultimate purpose: It is only through initiatives of this type that we will be able to find sustainable technical responses to the new regulations.”

Emmanuel Blondin, advance phase manager at Steep Plastique, adds: “The availability of an additional source of recycled material – derived from products still considered final waste today, but which can provide the raw material for highly exacting future applications –, opens up some very interesting new perspectives in terms of innovation and the overall health of the planet.”

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