Audi promotes the circular economy

In order to achieve the ambitious goal of a circular economy, Audi thinks sustainably – and this starts in production. The vision: a closed-loop circular economy. This also includes the sustainable use of water. At its Mexican site in San José Chiapa , Audi is the world's first premium manufacturer to produce cars completely free of wastewater. Here, all wastewater is processed in order to be reused at the plant and in production. The next step is an even greater saving in groundwater consumption.

Reuse is another part of the circular economy: Remanufacturing is the industrial overhaul of used parts to produce parts of original quality. This process and the sale of these parts through our spare parts business generates significant added value. And not just environmentally, but also economically, since it saves money. The program for remanufacturing these parts Exchange 2.0 uses digital diagnostic methods to detect, analyze and correct mechatronic anomalies. The program is currently being tested on transmissions and will be extended to other spare parts in the future.

By 2025, Audi wants to offer 20 electric vehicles. The demand for batteries will therefore increase. Audi is taking steps to make the life cycle of these batteries as sustainable as possible and has been an active member of the Global Battery Alliance. The alliance focuses both on the protection of human rights and social standards when extracting raw materials as well as on the creation of solutions for reusing lithium-ion batteries. Audi also enters into research cooperations, for example with the recycling group Umicore, in order to develop a loop for parts of high-voltage batteries that could in this way be reused again and again. The used batteries also get such a “second life” at the main plant in Ingolstadt where there are currently being used on a trial basis to power fork-lift trucks and towing vehicles. “Every lithium-ion battery represents high energy consumption and valuable resources that must be used in the best possible way,” says Peter Kössler, Member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics at AUDI AG. For this reason, electric mobility at Audi also includes considering a sensible second-use concept for the batteries.

Audi also uses aluminum for its battery housings. This light metal is obtained from bauxite in a process that is very energy-intensive. In order to save resources and energy, Audi has launched the Aluminium Closed Loop project, in which offcuts are returned to suppliers and recycled. In 2018 alone, some 90,000 metric tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions were saved this way. Audi is the first car manufacturer to be awarded the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) sustainability certificate for the sustainable production of battery housings.

These are just a few areas where Audi is focusing on sustainability in order to close material loops as part of a circular economy. And they show that it is possible.