The BMW Group remains committed to its ambitious sustainability goals and consistently drives the transformation of the company with the aim of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Recycling of raw materials in the sense of the circular economy aims to achieve the highest possible resource efficiency.
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Munich. The BMW Group continues to adhere to its ambitious sustainability targets, reducing its CO2 emissions per vehicle by 40% across its entire Value chain by 2030 compared to 2019 values. To do.
Thomas Becker, Head of Sustainability and Mobility at the BMW Group, said: “The current debate on raw materials also underscores our commitment to a circular economy. We want to maximize the use of raw materials from end-of-life vehicles and reuse them in the production of new vehicles. By maximizing the efficiency of our raw materials, we continue to reduce our CO2 emissions and conserve natural resources.”
Today, on average around 30% of the BMW Group’s vehicles are made from materials that have already been recycled and reused, so-called “secondary raw materials”. In the long term, the ‘Secondary Priority’ approach aims to increase this figure to 50%.
The BMW Group is the first German automaker to participate in the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) “Business Ambition for 1.5°C”. This means the company’s path to climate neutrality follows a scientifically validated and transparent path that aligns with the most ambitious goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. At the same time, the company is committed to its goal of achieving full climate neutrality across its entire Value He chain by 2050.
A 360-degree approach across the value chain.
The BMW Group is consistently promoting the electrification of all its vehicles. By 2030, at least two of the cars sold by the BMW Group will be fully electric, one of which is his. The MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars brands will only offer fully electric vehicles from the beginning of the next decade. For example, the BMW Group aims to reduce his CO2 emissions per vehicle in the use phase by 50% by 2030 compared to 2019 values.
“But sustainability is more than just building and selling electric vehicles for the BMW Group,” adds Becker. “Only a comprehensive sustainability approach, from resource to recycling, actually achieves the ultimate reduction in CO2 emissions.”
CO2 reduction in the supply chain is becoming very important as e-mobility increases, especially considering the energy-intensive production of high-voltage batteries. Nevertheless, the BMW Group intends to reverse this trend by reducing CO2 emissions in its supply chain by 20% compared to 2019 levels by 2030 and by up to 80% in production. I am aiming. The BMW Group’s global production network is already carbon net neutral thanks to selected offset initiatives.
‘Green Steel’ reduces CO2 emissions by up to 95%.
When it comes to reducing CO2 emissions in the supply chain, we can make significant progress using electricity from renewable sources. The BMW Group has already signed more than 400 of his contracts with suppliers to use 100% green electricity, including aluminum suppliers and battery cell producers. Since February 2021, the BMW Group has been sourcing aluminum from the United Arab Emirates using electricity generated from solar energy. From 2024 onwards, all cast aluminum his wheels for BMW and his MINI brand will also be produced exclusively using green electricity.
Carbon dioxide emissions are also being continuously reduced in the steel supply chain. From 2025, the BMW Group will not use fossil-based raw materials such as coal, but instead purchase CO2-reduced steel produced using natural gas or hydrogen and green power. Making steel this way reduces CO2 emissions by up to 95%. This reduces CO2 emissions by up to 400,000 tons per year.
Innovative recycling processes as the basis for an effective circular economy.
The BMW Group is also laying important groundwork for vehicle recycling towards a closed-loop economy. At the BMW Group Recycling and Dismantling Center (RDZ) in Unterschleissheim near Munich, up to 10,000 of his BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad vehicles are recycled every year.
They are dismantled in a standardized process focused on identifying reusable components and materials suitable for recycling. BMW Group designers and development engineers use the expertise gained in the RDZ to optimize the recyclability of new models from the start.
RDZ has also used innovative methods for many years to recycle high voltage batteries in electric vehicles. Processes have been developed in collaboration with industry and scientific partners capable of achieving recycling rates of 90% or higher.
In China, the joint venture of BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) has established for the first time a closed cycle for recycling the raw materials of nickel, lithium and cobalt in high-voltage batteries. The raw materials extracted will be used to manufacture new battery cells for the BMW Group. The closed material cycle saves resource consumption and reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 70% compared to using freshly mined primary raw materials.
Sustainable production: reduce CO2 waste and water consumption.
Circular economy principles also influence the production process. The BMW Group has established a steel and aluminum closed loop between its manufacturing sites and suppliers. As a result, approximately 70% of the steel waste and aluminum residue from the stamping plant is reused through a direct circular economy (closed loop).
Since 2006, the BMW Group has reduced CO2 emissions from vehicle production by more than 70%. From 2021, all factories in our international production network are his CO2 neutral. In addition to this, water consumption and waste generation are continuously reduced. For example, at the BMW Group’s largest European plant in Dingolfing, he generated only about 580 grams of residual waste per vehicle built in 2021.
The conversion to the iFACTORY has further improved energy efficiency, resource conservation and waste avoidance at BMW Group production sites. From 2025 onwards, the “Neue Klasse” models will be produced at the new BMW Group plant northwest of the Hungarian city of Debrecen. This is a perfect example of vehicle production consistently moving toward sustainability and the circular economy.
