Ocean Bound Plastics star in the (concept car) cockpit

As FORVIA’s low-carbon materials specialist, MATERI’ACT proudly showcased a concept car with instrument and door panels made with Ocean Bound Plastics (OBP) at the Group’s Sustainability Day in March 2024.

NGO Plastic Odyssey is committed to tackling plastic pollution by helping local communities collect, clean, treat and recycle Ocean Bound Plastic (OBP). Automotive technologies leader FORVIA is also keen to find alternatives to virgin plastics. With shared values and vision, the duo decided to join forces. The FORVIA Foundation worked with Plastic Odyssey to collect plastic on beaches around Senegal. The teams at MATERI’ACT were also excited to jump on board, using the plastic to develop an experimental (deep blue) compound.

FORVIA’s 2024 Sustainability Day seemed like the ideal opportunity to share and demonstrate the results of this collaboration. MATERI’ACT revealed a complete cockpit interior with four door panels and one instrument panel integrating OBP. Combining OBP and biomass (oyster shells) reduced the CO₂ impact by 20%, opening a path towards MATERI’ACT’s target of reducing CO₂ emissions by 85%.

“This sustainable car interior, integrating ocean bound plastics, illustrates the capabilities of MATERI’ACT to valorise more complex but also more meaningful waste sources. It also serves as a testimony to our commitment to providing sustainable and meaningful products to automakers and end-users,” comments Rémi Daudin, President of MATERI’ACT.

A multitude of eco-design possibilities  

Up to 10% recycled OBP is used in one of the compounds in the NAFILean 

family, and join its latest iteration, the NAFILean Vision range. In this case, the biobased fillers are oyster shell particles. To decarbonise plastics, combining low carbon recycled plastics and renewable biobased fillers is an exciting strategy.  There’s also less need for post-processing like paint or film, further reducing the CO₂ footprint and cost – as well as making recycling easier. 

OBP represents a high-potential source of recycled feedstock, complementing other sources such as Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR), End of Life Vehicles (ELV), and Post-Industrial Recycled (PIR). Using different recycled plastics results in visually distinctive sustainable materials with infinite design possibilities reflecting the origin of the feedstock in different colours, grains and perceived textures.

This concept car underscores MATERI’ACT’s and FORVIA’s ability (and desire) to integrate recycled plastics from various origins into car interiors and other applications – without compromising on stringent standards, performance, safety or quality.