Jaguar Land Rover cuts carbon emissions by a quarter with aluminium upcycling project

Jaguar Land Rover is aiming to cut carbon emissions by a quarter with a new project which ‘upcycles’ aluminium for new uses.

Called Reality, the project has seen engineers mix recycled aluminium parts with a lower amount of primary aluminium to form a new and tested prototype alloy which, JLR says, is comparable in quality to the aluminium used in its cars.

It has the potential to reduce the amount of CO2 generated in alloy production by up to 26 per cent compared with the current automotive grade. In essence, the system would allow JLR to use less brand-new aluminium in vehicle production, reducing its environmental impact.

Gaëlle Guillaume, lead project manager for ‘Reality’ at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “This project has allowed us, for the first time, to recover premium automotive-grade aluminium from scrapped vehicles and re-use its unique properties. The potential of this on the production process is a reduction in CO2 impact as well as helping us re-use even more aluminium.

“As we move into an autonomous, connected and electrified future, with the potential of shared fleets being decommissioned en masse, it could allow Jaguar Land Rover to engineer this closed loop recycling alloy into tight production schedules to further improve efficiency and environmental benefits.”

The £2 million project – which is co-funded by Innovate UK and created in partnership with Brunel University – is one of the ways that JLR is extending its aluminium closed loop and recycling initiatives to contribute to its Destination Zero plans. The manufacturer has already reduced its global operating emissions by 50.7 per cent since 2007.

Between September 2013 and March 2020, close to 360,000 tonnes of scrap metal have been processed and returned back into Jaguar Land Rover’s aluminium architecture across all vehicle lines.