Product details

The 'REALCAR (REcycled ALuminium CAR) closed-loop project', a highly successful research project led by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Novelis and a number of other partners, was based on the circular economy concept and had helped achieve financial and environmental gains. The project envisaged the recycling of JLR's post-industrial waste from aluminium body panel stamping and sending it back to Novelis, to be incorporated into new body panels. Technical as well as business model innovations were required to achieve this and to create a sustainable value chain that would bode wider environmental and societal benefits to all the stakeholders involved. Also, JLR and Novelis had invested into their manufacturing processes, to accommodate changes to the value chain. The outcomes were encouraging and had contributed to the sustainability of material usage at both JLR and Novelis. In order to increase the use of recycled aluminium, further investments were being made. Would JLR be able to sustain the project for the long-term? Would the investments made into the project yield suitable returns? Can the project be scaled-up? While only a few automakers had started adopting circular economy principles, it remained to be seen if more would join the sustainability revolution.