BMW has revealed that the brand will be using cast aluminium wheels produced with 100-per cent green power from 2024. The brand’s new initiative in the field of sustainability will apply to both BMW and Mini cars. Thanks to this transition, the brand will reduce the energy-intensive electrolysis used to produce Aluminium and the wheel-casting process.
Currently, alloy wheel production contributes to about five per cent of the supply chain’s CO2 emissions. Also, the brand has reached corresponding agreements to end this. The brand will be transitioning to green power, which will reduce these emissions by more than half. Also, BMW revealed that the company procures about 10 million light-alloy wheels per year, and the brand produces 95 per cent of them from cast aluminium.
CO2 Emission Savings
BMW has revealed that the sustainable use of Aluminium will save up to 500,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. To reduce the CO2 emissions in the supply chain, the company has signed more than 400 contracts with its suppliers, requiring them to use green power. Furthermore, the company states that Aluminium has good recycling properties making the material easier to melt down old wheels and become a part of the circular economy. Recycling also eliminates the energy-intensive electrolysis process while adhering to quality, design, safety and mechanical properties.
MINI Cars to Pioneer Use of Light-Alloy Cast Wheels
BMW Group has revealed that from 2023, the new-generation Mini Countryman will come with light-alloy cast wheels. These alloy wheels come from 70 per cent secondary aluminium. The new alloy wheel production will use a combination of 100 per cent green power and 70 per cent secondary raw material content. This will help reduce the CO2 emissions by up to 80 per cent, as compared to conventional processes.
The BMW Group has also revealed that Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) has already certified the light metal foundry at BMW Group Plant Landshut in December 2019 for its sustainable use of Aluminium. For the uninitiated, ASI is an international non-profit organisation supported by environmental and industrial associations.
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