Jaguar cracks polyurethane foam recycling

British car manufacturer JLR is claiming a significant technical breakthrough in the closed‑loop recycling of polyurethane seat foam from its end-of-life vehicles producing new seats.

A collaboration with chemical giant Dow and automotive seating specialist Adient is said to be the first time seat foam content has been successfully used in automotive production. 

JLR – formerly Jaguar – is putting the material through a full production process before testing its use on pre‑production vehicles early next year. The recycled foam will be one element of a new ‘circular seat’ to halve the impact of CO₂e emissions.

Recycling partners

Andrea Debbane, chief sustainability officer for JLR, says the initiative represents a collective commitment to doing things differently. ‘Close collaboration with experts from the recycling and materials science industries, with our supply chain partners, and colleagues from design and engineering is key – we need to work as a collective value chain to unlock meaningful change at scale.’

The technical advance comes from research and testing at JLR’s Circularity Lab in Gaydon in the Midlands. The lab brings together cross‑disciplinary squads comprising sustainability, engineering, procurement and design. They disassemble vehicles in a ‘learn through doing’ approach, working closely with suppliers and experts in materials to understand and overcome the barriers to reuse and recycling. 

Low-emission bumpers

As an example, initial tests on front bumpers found the same quality and performance could be achieved using a reduced number of polymers, saving 177 tonnes of CO₂e over a single model line, whilst also saving £560 000 (EUR 680 000). JLR will put lower its carbon bumpers onto new cars next year.

Another project saw post‑industrial waste from aluminium body panel stamping recycled back to the supplier to be incorporated into new body panels. This involved technical innovations, such as the creation of a new aluminium grade that would be best suited to the closed‑loop process.