VW to use recycled materials first used in ID.Buzz in its entire EV fleet

23 February 2023

Volkswagen ID.Buzz is still fresh, it’s only available in Europe for now and the American customers are only just getting ready for the debut of the long-wheelbase version intended for the US market. It was the ID.Buzz that introduced recycled materials to VW lineup of electric cars and now the rest of the portfolio will follow its lead.

Surprisingly a lot of recycled materials are used on the inside of the ID.Buzz - the headlining, the carpets, the seat covers. Underbody panels are made from recycled plastic as well and so are various plastic interior panels.

VW is particularly proud of its Seaqual yarn which is made 10 percent from marine debris and the remaining 90 percent comes from recycled PES yarn. The production of Seaqual is more eco-friendly as well with the CO2 reduced by 32 percent.

The seat covers are made from ArtVelours Eco which contains 71 percent of recycled materials. The headlining and carpets are from 100 percent recycled polyester. The company points out that every ID.Buzz interior needs 63 recycled PET bottles (500 ml).

With the pioneering all done by the ID.Buzz, the rest of electric VWs are about to join the recycling business. Before the end of this year, the company is introducing the recycled materials to the refreshed ID.3 (which is going to debut next week), ID.4, ID.5 and the upcoming ID.7 which was announced only recently.

Using recycled materials is just one of many steps that VW is taking on its way to being a climate-neutral company. The plan is to cut the carbon emissions per vehicle by 40 percent before the end of 2030. The big ZERO target will be tough to achieve but VW is confident it can do it by 2050.

Is it a revolution? Absolutely not, but it is a very important step in a very important direction. VW is not the first company to go this way and hopefully all other manufacturers will follow. Introducing electric cars to save the environment and then manufacturing them in the old ways and from old materials hardly makes any sense. We’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot of habits to change.

Here's a short video from VW that's actually quite informative about the recycled materials and future plans the company has for them:

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