Envalior and SECARA have entered into a collaboration agreement to test and validate pathways to incorporate high-quality post-consumer recycled (PCR) content into technical material grades based on SECARA’s novel catalytic depolymerization process.

SECARA’s depolymerization process recycles end-of-life vehicle plastics to PCR-derived caprolactam for PA6.

Helping automotive players meet End-of-Life Vehicle Regulation (ELVR)

The EU End-of-Life Vehicle Regulation (ELVR) mandates that at least 15% of the plastic used in new vehicles must come from recycled-based sources six years after the regulation come into force and rising to 25% after 10 years.

Importantly, 20% of this recycled content must come from closed-loop sources, meaning material recovered from end-of-life vehicles or from parts removed during a vehicle’s use phase.

SECARA novel depolymerization process to handle large industrial mixed waste streams

Through its novel depolymerization process, designed to break down technical polymers into their component molecules, SECARA is overcoming traditional obstacles to ELV recyclability.

SECARA’s recycling process is designed to handle the large industrial mixed-waste streams containing material inclusions such as glass fibers, flame-retardants and other additives or contaminations.

The technology selectively breaks up the target polymers in those waste streams and transform them into drop-in quality monomers.

“By addressing the challenge of mixed waste streams, our recovery route can deliver a scalable platform that we believe can be a cost-competitive solution for upcoming circularity requirements as well as a core pillar of the resilient and sustainable technical polymer industry of the future,” said Fabian Nagel, CEO at SECARA.

Focus: PCR-derived caprolactam for PA6

The initial focus of the collaboration, already underway for a year, is PCR-derived caprolactam for PA6. From the start, the development has focused on achieving the right balance between cost-efficiency and caprolactam purity to deliver the same high performance as virgin PA6.

This is enabled by SECARA’s capability to deliver monomers of drop-in quality, designed to be fed directly into existing polymerization processes without requiring changes to equipment, product design, or qualification procedures. This helps accelerate the adoption of circular PA6 for automotive applications at scale, while supporting supply-chain decarbonization.

Supporting customers’ transition to circular automotive materials

By working in tandem with SECARA, the collaboration aims to find the most efficient route to provide its customers with ready-to-implement solutions that enable ELVR compliance without compromising performance. Both companies are committed to maximizing the drop-in potential of this promising feedstock stream across the automotive PA6 portfolio.

At Envalior’s booth at Fakuma 2026, visitors can learn more about this collaboration.