Thank you for your participation in the first ZEvRA Automotive Strategy & Innovation Forum: Setting the Course for a Growing Circular Materials Demand, held on 8 April 2025 at REMATEC in Amsterdam and online. The forum brought together 30 experts from industry, research, and academia to identify and discuss the barriers and opportunities related to the increasing demand for recycled materials in the automotive sector. The discussion focused on the availability, sourcing, and integration of circular materials, with particular attention to the ZEvRArelated material groups steel, wrought and cast aluminum, foam aluminum, thermoplastics
composite and mineral plastics.
The forum highlighted several key barriers that must be addressed as the project advances. Among the most significant are economic and cost-related challenges, particularly for materials like foam aluminum, thermoplastics composites, and mineral plastics, where recycled alternatives can be more expensive than virgin materials due to labor-intensive processes or extended production times. Equally critical are supply chain and availability constraints. Participants expressed concern about the limited and inconsistent availability of high-quality secondary materials, especially as demand increases across the sector. The current reliance on existing recycling streams is insufficient to meet future volumes, and while some confidence was expressed— particularly for foam aluminum and thermoplastics—the overall assessment revealed considerable uncertainty. Scores reflecting confidence in the market’s ability to supply secondary materials were largely moderate, suggesting that without strategic action, the supply gap may persist or widen.
You can read more detailed information about the workshop in the summary of the results.
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