Covestro Advances Closed Material Loops for Polycarbonate in Automotive Applications

From NALYSES to KOLLEKT: Together with BMW, FORVIA HELLA and other partners from industry and research, Covestro is building on previous work to advance circular automotive lighting—from repair and reuse to remanufacturing and recycling, supported by robot-assisted dismantling.

(IN BRIEF) Covestro has joined the KOLLEKT research project, a publicly funded consortium focused on developing recyclable product concepts for automotive lighting, mechatronic and electronic components. The project is coordinated by FORVIA HELLA and includes partners such as BMW, Fraunhofer IEM, Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the University of Paderborn, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, HZDR and others. Running from June 2026 to May 2029, KOLLEKT is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space under the CircularGlowUp framework, with total funding of €4.371 million. Covestro will contribute expertise in high-performance polymers, including Makrolon®, Bayblend® and Apec®, while the project will use AI-powered robotic dismantling, digital product twins and circular design principles to support industrial-scale recycling.

(PRESS RELEASE) LEVERKUSEN, 10-Aug-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Covestro has announced its participation in KOLLEKT, a publicly funded interdisciplinary research project focused on developing recyclable product concepts for automotive lighting, mechatronic and electronic components.

The three-year project brings together automotive manufacturers, technology suppliers, materials specialists and research institutions to address one of the automotive industry’s key sustainability challenges: how to keep materials in use for longer, reduce resource consumption and establish genuinely circular value chains.

KOLLEKT is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space, known as BMFTR, under the CircularGlowUp funding framework and is supervised by the Karlsruhe Project Management Agency, or PTKA.

The project runs from June 2026 to May 2029 and has a total BMFTR funding volume of €4.371 million, including project lump sums.

The consortium is coordinated by FORVIA HELLA and includes BMW, Covestro, Geba, Fraunhofer IEM, Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the University of Paderborn, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, known as HZDR, and SW Maschinenservice.

The project focuses on applying Design for Circularity to automotive lighting components from the earliest stages of product development.

This approach aims to ensure that components are designed not only for performance and durability, but also for repair, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling.

KOLLEKT addresses rising pressure on the automotive industry from resource scarcity, supply security concerns and tightening regulatory requirements, including the EU End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation.

Current barriers to circular plastics at scale include technological complexity, cost pressure and insufficient product recyclability.

The project seeks to close this gap by researching how future lighting components can be made repairable, reusable and recyclable, while also identifying the production and logistics processes needed to support circularity in industrial practice.

As a key materials partner, Covestro is contributing its expertise in high-performance polymers and sustainable material solutions.

The company will work across the circular value chain, from supporting circular product design and material concepts to evaluating recycling pathways for polycarbonate.

Covestro’s Makrolon®, Bayblend® and Apec® materials are widely used in automotive lighting applications.

Returning these materials to high-quality use cycles is central to the ambition of KOLLEKT.

Covestro’s involvement is intended to ensure that material properties, recyclate quality and end-of-life behaviour are considered from the design stage onward.

The company said this is a prerequisite for true circularity and reflects its broader vision of a fully circular economy.

KOLLEKT builds on the predecessor project NALYSES, which was successfully completed in 2026.

Together with BMW, FORVIA HELLA and other partners from industry and research, Covestro is using the new project to advance circular automotive lighting concepts from repair and reuse through to remanufacturing and recycling.

Robot-assisted dismantling will play an important role in this work.

A flexible, AI-powered robotic dismantling cell is central to the project’s technical approach.

Using digital product twins and AI-based data processing, KOLLEKT aims to create the foundation for reuse and recycling at industrial scale.

The objective is to enable precise, largely automated and material-pure disassembly.

Networked data exchange will connect material, product and process information in real time, supporting a transparent and traceable circular ecosystem.

Monique Buch, Chief Commercial Officer at Covestro, said KOLLEKT is an example of how the company creates value with customers and partners by going beyond material supply and helping co-design solutions from the beginning.

She said early alignment across the value chain with BMW, FORVIA HELLA and other partners makes it possible to embed circularity directly into product development.

Buch added that this approach demonstrates co-creation and turns sustainability ambitions into tangible outcomes.

KOLLEKT is also designed to support the transfer of results beyond automotive lighting.

The project includes early involvement of SMEs, industry associations and networks, supported by conferences, academic teaching and publications.

This is intended to help scale the project’s findings and apply them to other sectors, including electrical and electronics applications.

The project aligns with Covestro’s strategic commitment to the circular economy.

The company continues to expand its portfolio of circular solutions, including post-consumer recycled Circular Intelligence, or CQ, product families such as the R, RV and RP material lines.

The RV and RP lines address post-consumer car-to-car recycling and include recycled end-of-life vehicle materials such as headlamps, with third-party certification.

Covestro said the insights generated by KOLLEKT will contribute to meeting EU end-of-life vehicle recycling targets toward 2032.

The project is also expected to support automotive manufacturers in meeting anticipated recycled content quotas while maintaining performance and quality.

Through its global production and supply network, Covestro aims to support decarbonisation and resource circularity in mobility.

Guido Naberfeld, Head of Sales and Market Development Mobility at Covestro, said KOLLEKT represents a concrete step toward closing the loop for high-performance polycarbonate in automotive applications.

He said the combination of Design for Circularity, advanced recycling technologies and digital traceability demonstrates that sustainability and material performance do not need to be in conflict.

Naberfeld added that the project shows how Covestro can contribute to EU end-of-life vehicle targets and help the automotive value chain transition toward a truly circular model.

Through KOLLEKT, Covestro and its partners are advancing a research-based pathway for turning today’s automotive lighting components into tomorrow’s resources, supporting circular product design, improved plastics recycling and more sustainable mobility value chains.

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 geared completely to the circular economy. 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 12.9 billion in fiscal year 2025. At the end of 2025, the company had 46 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 17,600 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Covestro’s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

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SOURCE: Covestro