Pilot project: Audi Q4 e-tron with windows made from recycled auto glass

Glass is energetically intensive to produce and can be well recycled, yet: So far, there is no closed material cycle for damaged automotive glass. Audi, Reiling Glass Recycling, Saint-Gobain Glass, and Saint-Gobain Sekurit aim to change this within the framework of a joint pilot project. The partner companies want to turn damaged automotive glass into a valuable material for series production and have set up a multi-stage process for this purpose.

Currently, a large part of discarded car windows or panoramic roofs is repurposed and, for example, further processed into beverage bottles or insulation materials. If it succeeds in reprocessing damaged automotive glass into new windows, it has several advantages: The quality is maintained. There is also a positive effect on CO2 emissions. Compared to the production of new glass, reprocessing emits up to 30 percent less carbon dioxide.

Important: The clean separation of materials

The car window is initially crushed using an innovative recycling process. Subsequently, all non-glass contaminants, such as adhesive residues, are sorted out. The glass granulate thus obtained is melted down and processed into new flat glass. This flat glass then becomes a new car window. If this pilot is successful, the aim is to use the windows produced in this way for the Audi Q4 e-tron series models in the future.

With this pilot project, Audi and its partner companies are tackling the challenge of establishing a closed material cycle for automotive glass. The project is part of Audi's circular economy strategy. The company considers its products throughout their entire life cycle. The raw materials used are to be reintegrated into the production process as much as possible after the end of their use.

In development and manufacturing, resources can be conserved, and environmental impacts can be reduced along the entire value chain. Audi has been recycling aluminum offcuts from the press shop in such a closed-loop system since 2017.

What does that mean?

The reprocessing of damaged glass results in less energy and raw materials being required for the production of panes overall, thereby saving valuable resources.