Jaguar Land Rover launches new aluminium recycling scheme; obtaining metal from I-Pace for trial

Jaguar Land Rover has reportedly launched a new aluminium recycling scheme, in a bid to reduce material wastage that comes from scrapping cars and minimise CO2 emissions throughout its entire production process.

The manufacture will recover aluminium from end-of-life vehicles and melt down to reform into high-grade metal suitable for new model production. Currently, it is obtaining the metal from a group of pre-production I-Pace electric SUVs for trialling the new scheme. Besides aluminium, Jaguar Land Rover also intends to recondition and reuse the batteries of the I-Pace electric SUVs.

The British multinational automotive company claims that it has “already reduced its global vehicle manufacturing operating CO2 by 46% per vehicle and remains committed to an ongoing decarbonisation process.”

It also claims that between September 2013 and January 2019 it has reused 300,000 tonnes of scrap metal taken from older vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover currently uses 180,000 tonnes of aluminium every year.

If this scheme proves successful, Jaguar Land Rover will plan for the retirement of large shared fleets in-house, according to the report.

The original Jaguar XE saloon was constructed of an alloy that had 75 per cent of recycled aluminium, meaning over half of the car’s body contained reused metal.

A team of scientists at Brunel University in London is also involved in a strength test to ensure if recycled aluminium can offer the same crash protection as that of the fresh metal.