Recycled Materials for Mobility Applications Market

Recycled Materials for Mobility Applications Market

The global recycled materials for mobility applications market was valued at USD 2.5 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 3.9 billion by 2027, growing at 8.6% cagr  from 2022 to 2027. The market's growth is attributed to the factors such as government regulations, growing awareness of energy savings, and the increasing use of recycled plastics in automobiles. However, the preference for virgin plastics in many applications is a major concern for the market.

Recycled Materials for Mobility Applications Market Trends

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Recycled Materials for Mobility Applications Market Dynamics

Driver: Growing awareness regarding energy savings and government responses

The use of recycled materials eliminates the need to make materials from scratch, which in turn saves a lot of energy. The production of any kind of virgin materials, such as plastics and carbon fiber, is an extremely labor-intensive and energy-expensive process consisting of extracting, transporting, and refining natural resources. Thus, the use of recycled materials instead of new resources allows manufacturers to make the same products with much lesser energy requirements. For instance, the process of recycling plastics from waste requires USD 7.1 trillion but less energy than the ones required to produce the equivalent amount of virgin PET and HDPE plastics. Therefore, the amount of energy saved from recycling PET and HDPE containers is equivalent to the annual energy use of 750,000 US homes. The corresponding savings in GHG emissions would be 2.1 million tons of CO2 equivalents, which would be comparable to taking 360,000 cars off the road. Thus, awareness about saving energy is likely to play a positive role in augmenting the demand for recycled plastics during the forecast period.

Restraint: Strong competition from virgin materials

In terms of quality and application, recycled plastics face stiff competition from virgin plastics. Only virgin materials can be used for high-end products where the chemical composition of the plastic must be precise. Although recycled plastics have had a price advantage over their virgin counterpart, the scenario has changed recently owing to the announcement of the Chinese scrap ban (the country has stopped importing recycled plastics). Moreover, with the discovery of shale gas in the US, there is a new source to produce fossil fuels, including natural gas, which is a major source of producing virgin plastics. This has facilitated an enormous increase in the amount of low-cost virgin plastic materials in the marketplace. Therefore, the strong competition posed by virgin plastics restrains the growth of recycled plastics.

Opportunity: Government regulations regarding use of environment-friendly products

Developed countries such as Germany, the US, and Japan are focusing on increasing the use of environment-friendly products instead of petroleum-based products. Automotive manufacturers are increasingly using recycled carbon fiber in various automobile models. Regulatory legislations imposed by the EU and other countries such as the US, India, and Japan are expected to increase the use of recycled carbon fiber, primarily in the automotive & transportation industry. The EU legislation sets mandatory emission reduction targets for new cars for improvements in fuel economy and reduction of CO2 emissions.

Challenge: High costs of recycled plastics

Petrochemicals such as oil and natural gas are the primary raw materials required for the production of virgin plastics. R-polyethylene terephthalate is a recycled plastic (PET). According to Tim Gutowski, a mechanical engineering professor, the issue with recycling plastic is the generation of a pure stream of recycled material. Several additives are used in the manufacture of plastic products, including fillers and colorants. The elements added to plastic that affect the manufacturing of recycled plastic products are usually unknown to recycling companies.

Recycled Materials for Mobility Applications Market Ecosystem

Asia Pacific to hold the largest market share in the recycled materials for mobility applications market

According to the World Bank, Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region in terms of population and economic growth. The region has experienced significant growth in the last decade, accounting for over a third of the world’s GDP. The high economic growth, coupled with the mounting population, is expected to boost the industrial sector in the region, which will increase the need for recycled materials such as recycled plastic polymers and recycled composites from industries. Continuous and easy availability of recycled materials, low-cost labor, lower price, and environmental benefits drive the recycled materials for mobility applications market in the region.

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Recycled Materials for Mobility Applications Market Players

Key players in the global recycled materials for mobility applications market are Toray Industries, Inc., (Japan), Solvay (Belgium), Faurecia (France), Continental AG (Germany), Neste (Finland), Unifi, Inc. (US), Celanese Corporation (US), Custom Polymers, Inc. (US), Procotex (Belgium), Carbon Fiber Recycling (US), SGL Carbon (Germany), and Wellman Advanced Materials (US).

These companies are pursuing a variety of inorganic and organic strategies in order to gain a foothold in the recycled materials for mobility applications market. The research includes a detailed competitive analysis of these key players in the recycled materials for mobility applications market, including company profiles, recent developments, and key market strategies.

Recycled Materials for Mobility Applications Market Report Scope

This research report categorizes the recycled materials for mobility applications market based on By Material Type, Vehicle Type, Component, Application, and Region.

By Material Type:

• Polymer Materials
• Composites
• Others

By Vehicle Type:

• Passenger Cars
• Commercial Vehicles

By Component Type:

• Interiors
• Exteriors
• Others

By Application Type:

• OEMs
• Aftermarket

By Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East and Africa

Recent Developments

• In March 2022, Faurecia, a company of the Group FORVIA, and Veolia have signed a cooperation and research agreement to jointly develop innovative compounds for automotive interior modules, aiming to achieve an average of 30% of recycled content by 2025. Through this partnership, the two companies will accelerate the deployment of breakthrough sustainable interior solutions implemented in instrument panels, door panels, and center consoles in Europe. Veolia will start the production of these secondary raw materials at its existing recycling sites in France starting from 2023.
• In October 2021, Vartega Inc. and Aditya Birla signed an MoU to develop the recycling value chain for Recyclamine based composites.
• In November 2020, SGL Carbon and Koller Kunststofftechnik partnered to manufacture novel recycled carbon fiber profiles for windshields for a future high-volume model of the BMW Group. This helped SGL Carbon improve its automobile product applications and increase the demand for recycled carbon fiber.
• In September 2019, Solvay expanded its thermoplastic composites and recycled composite materials capacity with a new production line at its US facility in California, highlighting its commitment to meeting growth in demand from automobile and aerospace customers for this high-performance material and Solvay’s proprietary and unique technology. Solvay multiplied its qualified capacity by four times since 2016 with the commissioning of this new line and upgrades to existing lines. The expansion aims to improve output, quality, consistency, and industrial reliability.
• In August 2018, Solvay, Premium AEROTEC, and Faurecia Clean Mobility launched IRG CosiMo, the industry’s first private group focusing on developing material and process technologies that are expected to enable the high-volume production of thermoplastic composites for the aerospace and automotive industries.

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