Can recycling scrapped automotive precious metals make an annual profit of €1 billion? Renault is eyeing the circular energy market

Reference News Network reported on December 15 that the Spanish "El País" website recently reported that the automotive industry is currently facing the most difficult road - how to transform itself to meet the global demand to reduce carbon emissions, while ensuring the employment rate of factories? To solve this puzzle, most manufacturers have opted for vehicle electrification. But in this race to combine the environment with mobility, a new concept that is expected to step on the accelerator has emerged, that is, the "circular economy".

The "circular economy" is about making cars that are less polluting and last longer. But manufacturing doesn't necessarily mean starting from scratch. With this premise in mind, Renault has announced the location of its recycling plant project in Spain. The Seville plant, which specializes in the manufacture of manual transmissions, will be the center of Spain, and from the fourth quarter of 2022, the plant will refurbish up to 10,000 cars per year, which will improve the energy efficiency of cars already on the roads of Spain while extending their service life. Jose Vicente de los Mossos, President of Renault Spain, said: "Car refurbishment is reduced by converting old diesel or petrol cars into cars with lower or zero emissions and using less polluting technologies to reduce pollutant emissions on the road. ”

The project was launched a year ago at the Fran plant in France, where Renault plans to refurbish 45,000 cars a year and replace gasoline or diesel engines with hybrid or hydrogen engines. The renovation of the plant, built in 1952, is part of the group's strategy to become a benchmark for decarbonization through zero-emission plants. Jean-Denis Quell, head of the circular economy at Renault, said, "There's no taboo anymore. We are no longer focused on new things."

In Spain, Renault has launched a new sequence, and de los Mossos said the brand will offer quality used cars at competitive prices. In other words, it will give a second spring to many used cars that are currently dismantled or discarded due to new liquidity restrictions.

The report also said that the automotive industry has not escaped the impact of the new crown crisis, and in 2020, sales in the Spanish automotive industry fell by 32.3%. Even so, according to the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers, the brands sold 851211 cars in 2020, with sales of 59.987 billion euros. The number is much higher across Europe, which sells 10 million cars a year. Such data shows high sales in the automotive industry, where recycling is starting to become more important.

Many manufacturers seek to replace new parts and recycle precious metals from electric vehicle batteries, body plastics or catalytic converters to improve the reuse of vehicles that do not end up in landfills. This business is not only more sustainable, but also highly valuable. Renault said car dismantling and parts recycling (including batteries) will bring it more than €1 billion in revenue by 2030.

According to a report released by the World Economic Forum, the current implementation of this technology will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 75% between now and 2030, and also reduce resource consumption per passenger per kilometer by 80%.

Javier Bernaldez, director of the Renault plant in Seville, Spain, welcomed the plant's remodeling to implement the recycling plant project in Spain, "a historic transformation that provides new answers to new questions from consumers." ”

But the new positives are mainly reflected in the job opportunities at the Seville factory. Rogelho Velasco, head of economic transformation affairs at the Government of the Autonomous Region of Andalusia in Spain, said the automotive industry employs 17,600 workers in Andalusia, or 3.2 percent of the region's GDP. However, the sales crash due to the COVID-19 crisis and the global shortage of semiconductors jeopardized the automotive industry. Introducing the circular energy project, Los Mossos said, "If we don't make cars, we don't make transmissions. He also said that the recycling plant project will create 1,000 jobs in the next 3 years.

Uncertainty in the auto industry increased in July as the European Commission announced that it was about to ban the sale of fuel vehicles from 2035 onwards, a deadline that forced manufacturers to step on the accelerator of innovation. Bernardez said Renault's circular energy project could integrate cars into a more sustainable future. "I don't think it's realistic for all of us to ride our bikes to work," he said. There was nothing wrong with the car. (Compilation/Sujavi)