Six Automakers Launch ‘BlueRebirth’ Council to Boost Recycled Materials in New Vehicles

DENSO CORPORATION, Toray Industries, Nomura Research Institute, Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd., MATEC Inc., and REVER CORPORATION are pleased to announce the establishment of the BlueRebirth Council.  Initiated by these six companies, the Council aims to build a manufacturing and recycling integrated value chain  to realize Car-to-Car ^*1 recycling, starting with automated precision dismantling^*2, which efficiently disassembles  end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) for material recovery and recycling. 

In recent years, the automotive industry has sought to transition to a circular economy to help realize a  sustainable society, taking on the significant challenge of reducing natural resource consumption by greatly  expanding the use of recycled materials. However, the mainstream global method remains shredding ELVs  followed by material sorting, which makes it extremely difficult to secure high purity recycled materials.  Furthermore, collaboration between manufacturing and recycling industries has not been sufficient, and as a  result, initiatives to use recycled materials as automotive components— which require both high quality standards  and adequate supply volumes for mass production—have not progressed sufficiently. In addition, the automotive  recycling industry faces challenges in promoting automation and digitalization and in addressing worker shortages  by improving workplace environments. 

The newly established BlueRebirth Council aims to address these challenges and, looking ahead to 2035, evolve  the automotive recycling industry into a “recycled materials manufacturing industry” that plays a key role as  part of a new resource-circulating value chain within the automotive industry. Through these efforts, the  companies behind the Council are committed to realizing a true Car-to-Car recycling system. 

As specific initiatives, the Council will engage in discussions and research, as well as advance technology  development and demonstration projects together with participating companies, research institutions, and other  stakeholders, starting with the automated precision dismantling of ELVs to build a manufacturing and recycling integrated value chain. In addition, we will make recommendations to relevant companies and organizations.

Automated precision dismantling is an advanced intelligent system that utilizes AI and sensor technologies to  enable robots to operate along the optimal path even for deformed parts. This not only ensures the quality and  volume of recycled materials that were difficult to achieve with conventional methods, but also contributes to  fundamentally solving worker shortages. 

Furthermore, by recording information such as material provenance and environmental impact on a digital  platform and sharing it across the manufacturing and recycling value chain, we can ensure a reliable and stable  supply of recycled materials. 

The Council is committed to expanding the use of recycled materials in automotive recycling and building a  manufacturing and recycling integrated value chain toward a Car-to-Car model. Through these efforts, the  companies aim to contribute to the realization of a circular economy in the automotive industry. 

Overview of BlueRebirth Council 

^*1 Car-to-Car: Returning all automobile parts to raw materials, utilizing them in new vehicle production, and creating a closed-loop  recycling system. 

^*2 automated precision dismantling: Automatically performing sophisticated dismantling and precise sorting by leveraging robotics  technology and AI-based recognition and decision-making capabilities.