BASF and Mercedes-Benz develop new recycling processes for polyamide

K 2025 Trade Fair New Recycling Process for Polyamides from End-of-Life Vehicles

2025-10-13 From Ipek Muftuler | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

BASF, together with Mercedes-Benz, Pöppelmann, and ZF, has developed two new recycling processes for Polyamide 6. The recyclates come from end-of-life vehicle parts.

BASF has developed two new recycling processes for polyamide. The company and its partners have produced and tested prototypes. Pictured: a chain guide rail from Pöppelmann for Mercedes-Benz.(Image: BASF) — BASF has developed two new recycling processes for polyamide. The company and its partners have produced and tested prototypes. Pictured: a chain guide rail from Pöppelmann for Mercedes-Benz.
(Image: BASF)

At the K 2025 trade fair, BASF jointly presents two new recycling methods for Polyamide 6. The projects were developed together with Mercedes-Benz and the suppliers Pöppelmann and ZF.

In a pilot project, a chemical process was developed to recycle technical plastics through depolymerization. In this process, the long polyamide chains are split at the inherently present predetermined breaking points. The resulting monomers, "caprolactam," are then purified and re-synthesized into polyamide (PA6). Further processed into a polyamide compound, the material meets the required quality standards and is suitable for demanding components in the automotive industry, BASF reports.

BASF and ZF have produced a chassis component (stabilizer link) for Mercedes-Benz from recycled PA6.(Image: BASF) — BASF and ZF have produced a chassis component (stabilizer link) for Mercedes-Benz from recycled PA6.
(Image: BASF)

The project partner ZF has manufactured a chassis component – the so-called stabilizer link – for Mercedes-Benz using this material.

PA6 from Shredder Residues

The second process uses shredder residues from end-of-life vehicles – a mix of different materials after glass and metals have been removed. From these residues, BASF has also succeeded in extracting polyamide (PA6).

The polyamide fraction obtained in this way was used as the starting material for a new solvent-based recycling process as part of the pilot project. In this process, the polymer chains are not broken but are selectively dissolved using a suitable solvent, then cleaned, and ultimately processed back into usable PA6 compounds.

The technology was validated by Mercedes-Benz using a chain guide rail in series production. The components were manufactured by Pöppelmann under near-series conditions as part of the pilot project and successfully tested, it is further stated.

Life Cycle Analysis for Recycled PA6

BASF has had life cycle analyses conducted by an external company alongside the pilot projects. The results, the company reports, showed significant CO₂ emission savings for both new recycling processes – both compared to the use of fossil raw materials for producing comparable polyamide compounds and compared to conventional plastic recycling methods (thermal recovery).

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.