Bavarian-automaker BMW has invested €6.5mn in technology to recycle aluminium sheets at its press shop in Dingolfing, Germany.
The press shop has established a facility to separate aluminium sheet waste and recycle it to make it usable for the industry.
BMW has teamed up with US-based aluminium company Novelis, for implementation of this process and will annually recycle around 12,000mt of the metal.
The facility separates sheet metal waste generated during manufacturing. The metal is then pressed into cubes.
Novelis will then melt the cubes into an alloy, which will be used to produce aluminium sheets. These sheets can used in the entire auto industry, including BMW’s vehicle production.
The plant rolls out 333,000 BMW vehicles annually from its assembly lines. With the recycling process BMW makes it possible to save 120,000 tons of CO2 within the entire industry, as per a BMW spokesperson’s reply to Davis Index.
The Dingolfing facility manufactures many BMW models and provides car bodies for Rolls-Royce motors.
BMW is also implementing the recycling process at its light metal foundry in Landshut. The foundry annually produces 5mn castings weighing 84,000mt.