Industry Giants Join Forces to Transform Discarded Tires into Sustainable Automotive Plastics

Industry Giants Join Forces to Transform Discarded Tires into into Sustainable Automotive Plastics

(IN BRIEF) Neste, Borealis, and Covestro have partnered to recycle discarded tires into high-quality plastics for automotive applications, aiming to drive circularity in the plastics value chain. Through this collaboration, old tires are transformed into raw materials, processed into base chemicals, and ultimately utilized in the production of polycarbonates, showcasing a sustainable approach to materials usage in the automotive industry.

(PRESS RELEASE) VIENNA, 11-Jun-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — In a significant move towards circularity in the plastics and automotive industries, Neste, Borealis, and Covestro have joined forces to recycle discarded tires into high-quality plastics for automotive applications. The collaborative project aims to drive sustainability and reduce environmental impact by transforming old tires into valuable raw materials.

Guido Naberfeld, Senior Vice President of Sales and Market Development Mobility at Covestro, emphasizes the importance of cooperation in achieving circularity goals: “We are creating options to turn old tires into new car parts again. With that, we are supporting our automotive customers and addressing an increasingly prominent question discussed across the value chain: How to match high-performance materials with recycled content? Projects like this can be the answer.”

Under the collaboration, Neste converts liquefied discarded tires into high-quality raw materials, which are then processed by Borealis into base chemicals phenol and acetone. These chemicals are subsequently supplied to Covestro for the production of polycarbonates. The project ensures traceability and transparency in the recycled content attribution through the mass balancing approach, certified by ISCC Plus.

Thomas Van De Velde, Senior Vice President Base Chemicals at Borealis, highlights the role of value chain cooperation in promoting sustainability: “We are proud that Borealis, in collaboration with Neste, is able to play a role in this project, providing more sustainable solutions for polymer applications for Covestro and its customers.”

Jeroen Verhoeven, Vice President Value Chain Development for polymers and chemicals at Neste, sees the project as a blueprint for establishing circularity in plastics for automotive applications: “It shows how low-quality waste materials can be turned into very high-quality plastics. This is good news for the polymers and automotive industries as well as for the environment.”

The collaboration marks a significant step towards a circular economy and will be showcased at the upcoming [Event Name] in Mannheim, Germany, on June 19-20, 2024.

About Neste
Neste (NESTE, Nasdaq Helsinki) creates solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy. The company refines waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials.

As the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel and a forerunner in developing renewable and circular feedstock solutions for polymers and chemicals, Neste helps its customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030.

The company’s ambition is to make the Porvoo oil refinery in Finland the most sustainable refinery in Europe. Neste is committed to reaching carbon-neutral production by 2035, and will reduce the carbon emission intensity of sold products by 50% by 2040. Neste has also set high standards for biodiversity, human rights and the supply chain. The company has consistently been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies. In 2023, Neste’s revenue stood at EUR 22.9 billion. Read more: neste.com

About Borealis
Borealis is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and sustainable polyolefin solutions. In Europe, Borealis is also an innovative leader in polyolefins recycling and a major producer of base chemicals. We leverage our polymer expertise and decades of experience to offer value-adding, innovative and circular material solutions for key industries such as consumer products, energy, healthcare, infrastructure and mobility.

With customers in over 120 countries and head office in Vienna, Austria, Borealis employs around 6,000 people. In 2023, we generated a net profit of EUR 216 million. OMV, the integrated energy, fuels & feedstock and chemicals & materials company headquartered in Vienna, Austria, owns 75% of our shares. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), owns the remaining 25%.

In re-inventing essentials for sustainable living, we build on our commitment to safety, our people, innovation and technology, and performance excellence. We are accelerating the transformation to a circular economy of polyolefins and expanding our geographical footprint to better serve our customers around the globe. Our operations are augmented by two important joint ventures: Borouge (with ADNOC, headquartered in the UAE); and Baystar™ (with TotalEnergies, based in the US).
www.borealisgroup.com | www.borealiseverminds.com

About Covestro
​Covestro is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. Covestro supplies customers around the world in key industries such as mobility, building and living, as well as the electrical and electronics sector. In addition, polymers from Covestro are also used in sectors such as sports and leisure, telecommunications and health, as well as in the chemical industry itself.

​The company is committed to becoming fully circular. In addition, Covestro aims to achieve climate neutrality for its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2035, and the Group’s Scope 3 emissions are also set to be climate neutral by 2050. Covestro generated sales of EUR 14.4 billion in fiscal 2023. At the end of 2023, the company had 48 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 17,500 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).

Find more information at the Covestro Homepage.

Media Contacts:

Neste:
Media service
Tel: +358 800 94025 / media@neste.com (weekdays from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. EET).
Please subscribe to Neste’s releases at https://www.neste.com/for-media/releases-and-news/subscribe.

Borealis:
Borealis Group Media Desk
Virginia Wieser, Lena Lehner, Karin Schober
Tel: +43 1 22 400 899 (Vienna, Austria)
E-mail: media@borealisgroup.com

Covestro:
Markus Kleine-Beck
Global Trade Media Relations
Tel: +49 173 2320 686
E-mail: markus.kleine-beck@covestro.com

SOURCE: Borealis AG