Honda's unique car grille design realized through recycled materials
Sumitomo Chemical will provide its Noblen Meguri, a polypropylene (PP) material produced using its material recycling technology, for the front grille of Honda Motor’s new electric vehicle N-VAN e:, which is scheduled to be released in autumn of 2024.
Honda’s new electric vehicle N-VAN e: and its front grille.
Until now, recycled materials were generally used for parts that did not prioritize design. However, Sumitomo Chemical and Honda have aimed for a shift in value towards a unique design that could only be realized through recycled materials.
Scrap bumpers collected from Honda’s vehicles will be crushed by Kyowashizai, an automotive parts recycling contractor, and then provided to Sumitomo Chemical. Sumitomo Chemical will recycle these materials into Noblen Meguri using its unique advanced material design and compounding technologies. It will then supply the polypropylene material to Honda.
Workflow of the collaboration.
Sumitomo Chemical intentionally mixes in a large amount of paint film, which had been removed for reducing appearance quality in the past, to create an expressive and uniquely appealing material.
Sumitomo Chemical intentionally makes the paint film stand out, to highlight it as a recycled material. It also has an appearance reminiscent of a starry sky.
Sumitomo Chemical has been supplying high-performance polypropylene materials to car manufacturers and also advancing its initiatives to build circular systems for plastic resources and develop material recycling businesses.
For Honda, it has been promoting closed-loop car-to-car recycling of plastic materials, while working on its initiatives to increase the appeal of sustainable recycled materials.
