Trinseo, a REVOLUTION Partner Promoting Wider Adoption of Electric Vehicles through End-of-Life PMMA Management & Material Innovations

October 24, 2023

Heathland, Trinseo's specialized recycling site in the Netherlands, collects and recycles a large volume of specific technical scraps, such as PolyMethyl MethAcrylate (PMMA). The company is involved in the mechanical recycling / reprocessing of these materials and is currently building a chemical plant to process PMMA. Heathland is one of the main PMMA waste collectors in Europe, focusing on this polymer and its processing capabilities. The annual quantity of PMMA waste handled is about 12,000 tons.

To address environmental challenges posed by materials used, greenhouse gas emissions and end-of-life vehicle disposal within the automotive industry, the EU has prioritized decarbonizing the industry and reducing transport related greenhouse gas emissions. The European Green Deal commits to no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 in the EU. The transition from fossil fuel to electric vehicles (EV) will contribute to achieving the target. REVOLUTION is a European commission-funded project aimed at promoting the wider adoption of EVs and implementing circular economy principles in the automotive industry through various approaches.

Developing lightweight automotive components made from recycled polymers to replace heavy steel parts will enhance the efficiency and range of EVs addressing a key adoption barrier. Secondly, REVOLUTION proposes a disruptive innovation by utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize the use of recycled materials and injection molding processes, which enables high quality power production to overcome the challenges posed by the variability of post-consumer recycling. Lastly, focusing on improving the recyclability and separation of end-of-life automotive components and aiming for an 80% improvement in material recovery by facilitating reuse and recycling will also have a tremendous impact.

REVOLUTION will contribute to a more circular flow of materials in the automotive industry. The project brings together leading organizations from the automotive chemicals and plastics Industries, and Trinseo is proud to be one of them. Numerous research organizations and SMEs are also collaborating on the project. Leading the end-of-life strategies within the REVOLUTION project, Heathland collects PMMA waste, pre-treats it and recycles it chemically and mechanically to produce recycled methyl methacrylate (rMMA) / recycled PolyMethyl MethAcrylate (rPMMA) for parts in the automotive sector.

Find out more by clicking here to access a video about the REVOLUTION project. Connect with us and find out how we can collaborate on a more circular flow of materials.