Honda Motor announced that it has just joined Denso Corporation, Toray Industries, Nomura Research Institute, Matec, and Rever Corporation to create the BlueRebirth Council, whose goal is to build an integrated value chain for production and recycling.
The aim is to recycle all automotive parts into raw materials, using them in the production of new vehicles and developing a closed-loop recycling system.
In recent years, the automotive industry has been seeking to transition to a circular economy in order to achieve a sustainable society, taking on the significant challenge of reducing the consumption of natural resources through the significant expansion of the use of recycled materials.
However, the dominant global method remains the shredding of ELVs, followed by material sorting, a process that complicates the obtaining of recycled materials with high purity.
In light of this scenario, the newly created BlueRebirth Council aims to transform the automotive recycling industry by 2035 into a “recycled materials production industry” that plays a key role as part of a new resource circulation value chain within the automotive industry.
For this, the Council formed by the five companies will promote discussions and investigations, as well as the development of technology and demonstration projects in collaboration with the participating companies, research institutions, and other stakeholders, starting with the automated and precise dismantling of ELVs to build an integrated production and recycling value chain.
It is worth noting that precision automated dismantling is an advanced intelligent system that uses Artificial Intelligence technologies and sensors to enable robots to operate along the most optimized path, even for deformed parts. This not only ensures the quality and volume of recycled materials that were difficult to achieve with conventional methods but also fundamentally contributes to addressing the labor shortage.