Autoneum is introducing automotive carpet systems made of 100% polyester to open up new opportunities for vehicle manufacturers to meet their sustainability targets. The carpet systems are fully recyclable, paving the way for an improved and more sustainable end-of-life recycling of electric vehicles.

In addition, the high content of recycled PET, as well as the zero waste and less energy-intensive and latex-free production process, further improve the carbon footprint of the new monomaterial needlepunch and tufted carpets.

Automotive carpets are typically multi-layered systems that can be challenging to recycle. While the interiors of conventional cars with combustion engines are usually shredded together with other parts – mainly the vehicle bodies, making the reclaiming of textile products such as carpets practically impossible – e-cars open up new opportunities for end-of-life recycling.

Since the battery has to be removed at the end of vehicle life in order to be recycled or disposed of properly, the demand for easy-to-dismantle products, especially carpets, is increasing.

Such easily removable components, however, have to not only allow access to the battery, but need to also be individually recycled at the end of life.

Autoneum 100% polyester carpets build on the existing range of the company’s Pure technologies – the carpet surface, for example, is made of Di-Light or Relive-1, while Hybrid-Acoustics PET is used for the decoupler. Thanks to an alternative backcoating process which uses a thermoplastic adhesive instead of latex, the production of the new monomaterial needlepunch and tufted carpets also requires significantly less energy and no water at all.

A tufted carpet system made of 100% polyester is already in development for an electric model of a German vehicle manufacturer that will soon be available in Europe and Asia.

www.autoneum.com