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Global chemical company Envalior and recycling technology scale-up SECARA are working together to enable the conversion of end-of-life vehicle plastics into circular PA6 for automotive applications at scale.
SECARA's innovative catalytic depolymerization technology aims to produce high-purity, drop-in caprolactam that can be used directly in Envalior’s existing PA6 production process, eliminating the need for changes to existing manufacturing infrastructure.
If successfully scaled, this solution will help automotive manufacturers meet the upcoming recycled content requirements under the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation (ELVR) without compromising material performance.
Envalior, a global leader in Sustainable & High-Performance Engineering Materials, has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SECARA, a fast-growing technology scale-up specializing in the development of industrial-scale solutions for closed-loop polymer recycling. Through this collaboration agreement, Envalior will work with SECARA to test and validate pathways to incorporate high-quality post-consumer-recycled (PCR) content into technical material grades based on SECARA’s novel catalytic depolymerization process.
"Circularity is one of the defining shifts facing the automotive industry, and it can only be solved through strong partnerships across the value chain. With SECARA, we want to explore early what a scalable, high-performance circular pathway could look like and ensure Envalior is ready to support our customers as the ELV requirements take place,” says Christophe Cazabeau, EVP Performance Materials at Envalior.
Helping automotive players meet End-of-life Vehicles Regulation (ELVR)
The results of this collaboration will be most relevant to automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers seeking scalable material solutions to ensure compliance with the European Commission’s recently adopted End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation (ELVR). Expected to come into force later this year, it mandates that at least 15% of the plastic used in new vehicles must come from recycled-based sources six years after entry into force – rising to 25% after 10 years.
Importantly, 20% of this recycled content must come from closed-loop sources, meaning material recovered from end-of-life vehicles or from parts removed during a vehicle’s use phase. “Due to technical/quality constraints, mechanical recycling alone is insufficient to meet the ELVR closed-loop requirements in demanding applications,” explains Artur Völk, Circular and Low-Carbon Solutions Lead at Envalior. “SECARA’s chemical recycling solution therefore offers a promising way forward to effectively balance advanced performance properties and regulatory compliance.”
Turning end-of-life vehicle plastic into virgin-quality raw material
Through its novel depolymerization process, designed to break down technical polymers into their component molecules, SECARA is overcoming traditional obstacles to ELV recyclability. “Our recycling process is designed to handle the large industrial mixed-waste streams containing material inclusions such as glass fibers, flame-retardants and other additives or contaminations. We selectively break up the target polymers in those waste streams and transform them into drop-in quality monomers”, says Fabian Nagel, CEO at SECARA. “By addressing the challenge of mixed waste streams, our recovery route can deliver a scalable platform that we believe can be a cost-competitive solution for upcoming circularity requirements as well as a core pillar of the resilient and sustainable technical polymer industry of the future.”
The initial focus of the collaboration, already underway for a year, is PCR-derived caprolactam for PA6. From the start, the development has focused on achieving the right balance between cost-efficiency and caprolactam purity to deliver the same high performance as virgin PA6. This is enabled by SECARA’s capability to deliver monomers of drop-in quality, designed to be fed directly into existing polymerization processes without requiring changes to equipment, product design, or qualification procedures. This helps accelerate the adoption of circular PA6 for automotive applications at scale, while supporting supply-chain decarbonization.
Supporting customers' transition to circular automotive materials
In line with its Envalior CARES sustainability strategy, Envalior’s MoU with SECARA is another way to address the impacts of its own operations and support customers’ sustainability journeys. By working in tandem with SECARA, it aims to find the most efficient route to provide its customers with ready-to-implement solutions that enable ELVR compliance without compromising performance. Both companies are committed to maximizing the drop-in potential of this promising feedstock stream across the automotive PA6 portfolio.
Visitors to the upcoming Fakuma 2026 trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, can learn more about the collaboration at the Envalior stand (Hall B4, 4302).
About Envalior
Envalior is a global leader in Sustainable & High-Performance Engineering Materials with annual sales of around €3 billion. The company’s broad portfolio includes PA6, PA66, PBT, PA46, PPS, TPC (TPE-E), PET, PA4T, PA410, and Thermoplastic Composites. With a global network of 18 production sites, 12 R&D centers, and more than 4,000 employees, Envalior serves key markets such as Mobility, Electronics & Electrical, and Consumer and Industrial Goods. The company was established in 2023 through the merger of Lanxess Performance Materials and DSM Engineering Materials. For more information, visit www.envalior.com.
About SECARA
SECARA is a technology scale-up developing advanced catalytic depolymerization processes for technical polymers such as polyamides or polycarbonates. Its process converts mixed and contaminated plastic waste — including automotive shredder residues — into monomers such as caprolactam, while also recovering glass fiber as a secondary raw material. SECARA’s circular monomers are designed to be drop-in – meaning they can be integrated seamlessly into existing polymer value chains. SECARA is supported by funding from the European Union via the EFRE/JTF fund and the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MUNV), as well as the ESF Plus funds and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
Note: This story has not been edited by The Polymerupdate Editorial team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.
