Pilot project for the circular economy wins award
K-TECH’s expertise in processing recycled materials for the automotive sector has recently received significant recognition at two award ceremonies: At the international trade fair FAKUMA in Friedrichshafen, the joint pilot project by BASF, Mercedes-Benz and Pöppelmann on solvent-based recycling took second place in the Recycling category at the FAKUMA Innovation Award. Just one day later, the same collaborative project was honoured with the MATERIALICA Design + Technology Award 2026 at eMove360°, the international trade fair for electromobility and autonomous driving.
“Tapping into end-of-life vehicles as a source of high-quality materials requires more than just technology. A strong, holistic ecosystem approach and close collaboration across the entire value chain are crucial. Together, BASF, Mercedes-Benz, ZF and Pöppelmann K-TECH manufactured real automotive components from recycled PA6 sourced from end-of-life vehicles and successfully validated them under pilot conditions. ‘This collaboration lays the groundwork for the further technical, economic and operational work that would be required prior to potential implementation on an industrial scale,’ states a press release from BASF. To clarify: a second recycling project by the chemicals group, in cooperation with ZF, focusing on the depolymerisation of used PA6 components, also received the award.
K-TECH, together with Mercedes-Benz, was a partner in the BASF pilot project for the recycling of plastic residues from end-of-life vehicles. In a new solvent-based recycling process, polyamide fractions (PA6 and PA66) are sorted from shredder residue and purified, and the PA6 is selectively recovered by solvent extraction.
The recycled material produced from this was processed in collaboration with Pöppelmann into a chain guide rail for Mercedes-Benz – a high-load engine component with demanding requirements in terms of wear resistance, temperature resistance and chemical resistance. “The results show that this approach enables the technical recovery of high-quality engineering plastics from complex waste streams that have previously been difficult to recycle. Any subsequent industrialisation would not necessarily be carried out by BASF itself, but by other market participants,” explains BASF in the press release.
Background: Expertise in recycled materials has now become a key competitive factor in the automotive sector. Under the EU End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation ( ELV for short), new requirements apply to the use of recycled materials in the automotive sector. Under these regulations, from 1 September 2032, the plastic used in newly type-approved vehicles must contain at least 15 per cent post-consumer recycled material. 20 per cent of this PCR content must come from end-of-life vehicle recycling.
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Photo:
FAKUMA Innovation Award in the Recycling category (2nd place); from left: Oliver Geiger (Sustainability Expert, Engineering Plastics, BASF), Andreas Kellermann (Global Sales Director, Pöppelmann K-TECH), Eleni Kougioumtzi (Expert in Resource-Efficient Materials, Mercedes-Benz AG) and Anna-Carin Föhner (Research and Development, Materials Technology, ZF Group).
