Ever since I read about that whale who died because it had ingested 80 plastic bags, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how much plastic we just throw away. Thankfully, Volvo has pledged to alleviate things somewhat.
Volvo announced that from 2025 onward, at least 25 percent of the plastics used in its new cars will be sourced from recycled materials. To illustrate what this would look like, it created a special XC60 with a bunch of its plastic parts swapped out with recycled bits.
The car has a tunnel console made from the plastics of discarded fishing nets and maritime ropes. The carpet has fibers from plastic bottles and a recycled cotton mix from clothing offcuts. The seats also have fibers from plastic bottles. Finally, old car seats from used Volvos were used to make the sound absorbing material beneath the hood.
Plastics are used extensively in cars and it’s great to see a company actively trying use more recycled materials in its products.