circular economy.

Circular economy is a strategic focus of product development at the BMW Group, with the increased use of secondary materials forming a cornerstone of our strategy. By supporting us reduce the amount of primary raw materials we use, it is not only helping us lower our CO₂e emissions but also reducing the environmental and social impacts of primary raw material extraction and processing. In addition, it makes us less dependent on critical primary raw materials.

By implementing a circular economy, we follow the principle of „Design for Circularity“. This means designing and developing components to incorporate a greater proportion of secondary raw materials, choosing easily recoverable materials and optimising parts for easy dismantling. This lays the foundation for cost-efficient, high-quality recycling.

„Design for Circularity“ – three guiding principles.

Secondary First: Market availability and technical feasibility permitting, the BMW Group intends to continue increasing the share of secondary materials in its vehicles. Secondary materials are subject to the same high quality, safety and reliability standards as primaries.

Material selection: We strive to use a less diverse range of materials and prioritise recycling-friendly solutions that are easy to separate out. This way, we set the basis in product development for recovering high-quality materials from end-of-life vehicles.

Optimising dismantling through the number of parts: One way to optimise dismantling is by reducing the number of individual components. This involves finding better ways of connecting them and making them easier to separate again afterwards (e.g. by screwing, clipping or plugging them together instead of bonding or sewing them). As well as having a positive impact on material composition to facilitate recycling, for instance, Design for Circularity addresses current and upcoming legislation around the use of secondary materials, mandatory dismantling scopes, depollution and recyclability.

Dismantling and recycling.

For us at the BMW Group, end-of-life vehicles are not simply waste that needs disposing of but a valuable source of secondary raw materials. That’s why we encourage people to return their vehicles, components and materials to the raw material cycle.

For the last 30 years the BMW Group’s Recycling and Dismantling Centre (RDZ) has been developing and trialling processes to enable major advances in the recycling of parts and raw materials. What the team have learned about the recyclability of components and materials is already being incorporated into product development at the BMW Group.

The team at the RDZ share their combined expertise with a global recycling industry network, promoting the establishment of the circular economy in the automotive sector. The joint recycling database is currently used by around 3,000 businesses in 23 countries to learn more about how to dismantle recyclable components cost-effectively and efficiently recover valuable materials.

Battery recycling.

Since late 2024 the BMW Group has been establishing a closed loop in battery production to recover cobalt, nickel and lithium from used high-voltage batteries. These secondary materials will be returned to the supply chains to make new batteries (BMW Group scores circular economy win with high-voltage batteries).

Efficient use of resources – the numbers.

Production at the BMW Group is subject to extremely high standards around the sparing use of resources. Thanks to a range of measures, we have been able to reduce the quantity of non-recyclable waste and our water consumption per car produced year on year. And the numbers prove it. Almost all the waste from our production operations is recycled and reused.

Non-Recyclable Waste per Vehicle produced.

1.68 kg

2.12 kg

2.74 kg

2024

2023

2022

Potable water consumption per vehicle produced in m³.

1.67

1.78

1.90

2024

2023

2022

This focus topic delivers on the following SDGs.

Downloads.

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