Automotive Giant Builds Car from Recycled Aluminium

Set for implementation on the Rogue’s bonnet and doors, the new way of working is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions compared with using parts made with primary alloys from raw materials. It also promotes the use of materials that do not rely on newly mined resources, as well as the reduction of waste from factories.

The core of the closed-loop recycling system is a large pneumatic conveyance system. As bonnets and doors are stamped into shape, scrap material is shredded and extracted.

Aluminium grades are kept separate, allowing Nissan to return the separated scrap metals to suppliers who reprocess aluminium scrap into aluminium alloy sheets, which are then redelivered to Nissan.

The all-new Nissan Rogue SUV is built in Kyushu, Japan, and Smyrna, Tennessee. To support the process, Nissan has collaborated with Kobe Steel, Ltd. and UACJ Corp. in Japan, and with Arconic Corp. and Novelis Inc. in the US.

According to the US-based Aluminium Association, recycling scrap aluminium saves more than 90 per cent of the energy needed to create a comparable amount from raw materials. The organisation estimates that nearly 75 per cent of all aluminium made is still in use.

Under the Nissan Green Program 2022, the company said it aims to replace 30 per cent of the raw materials used in cars built in 2022 with materials that do not rely on newly mined resources. To achieve this, Nissan said it will use recycled materials and develop biomaterials, carry out recycling activities both at suppliers and in-house, and seek to reduce the weight of car bodies.