Sustainable Materials Work Group

working to move the automotive industry towards a circular materials economy.

SP’s Sustainable Materials Work Group is working to move the automotive industry towards a circular materials economy. The work group promotes collaboration amongst automotive manufacturers and suppliers to increase use of sustainable practices, processes, and materials in the production and content of vehicles, and to incentivize sustainable innovation.

Examples of key initiatives include,

Sustainable Content. Working to develop a strategy to use collective leverage of industry to increase demand for sustainable content and incentivize innovation.
Sustainable Materials Definitions. Working to develop a set of common terms and definitions for sustainable materials within the automotive industry.

Featured Resource: Recycled Content Guidance

A succinct definition and straightforward industry supported approach for measuring recycled content of automotive products.

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Featured Resource: Mass Balance Guidance

This guidance is intended to support more consistent understanding of how the mass balance chain of custody model may serve as a basis for substantiated advanced recycled plastic feedstock claims.

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Featured Resource: Renewable Content Guidance

A succinct definition and straightforward industry supported approach for measuring renewable content of automotive products.

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Featured Resource: Carbon Intensity Guidance

A straightforward approach for evaluating carbon intensity information for materials used in automotive products.

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Featured Resource: Waste Metrics Guidance

The guidance is intended to support companies who are seeking to report their own waste-related data, or request waste-related data from their supply chain, in a manner consistent with established international corporate sustainability reporting best practices.

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Recycled & Renewable Materials

How are recycled and renewable input materials being utilized by leading companies in the automotive industry? Here are just a few examples of the types of recycled / renewables materials different companies have utilized as shared in SP members’ public sustainability reports.

Soybean-based foam used in vehicle seating and headliners
Post-industrial garment clippings made of cotton and synthetic fibers used in door panel insulation, floor silencer and floor mats
Bio-based plastics — plastics derived either wholly or in part from plant materials — used in seat cushions
Composites using castor oil, kenaf, wheat straw, rice hulls, coconut and tree fibers, coffee chaff
Post-industrial scrap material used as insulation and sound-deadening materials
Recycled plastic bottles used as the PET component of the seat material
Recycled plastic bottles used in engine insulation
Recycled cardboard used in sound-dampening material in headliner
Recycled plastic caps and shipping aids used in radiator shrouds
Test tires shredded and used in air and water baffles
Post-industrial textile waste—blue jeans and towels included— used in hood and dashboard insulation
Recycled plastic license plate brackets
Recycled plastic bottles used for underbody shields on cars and SUVs, and wheel liners on trucks
Recycled plastic bottles used in carpets, wheel liners and fabrics

Examples of recycled materials in automotive

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Visit the links below for a high-level summaries of recent SP quarterly membership meetings.