The automotive industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, where the challenge is no longer just to electrify the fleet, but to rethink the entire vehicle life cycle. With the recent announcement of the Tomorrow XX technology programme, Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its strategy for integrating sustainability into its next generation of cars.
The Tomorrow XX programme is not just a manifest of intent, but a technological accelerator that has already produced over 40 new sustainable components and materials in just two years. Mercedes-Benz’s strategy is based on two fundamental pillars:
- Design for environment & circularity: Design begins in the early stages of development to reduce carbon footprint and primary resource consumption.
- Single materials and easy disassembly: To make recycling effective, Mercedes is reducing complex material mixtures in favour of single materials. Components will be assembled using reversible joining systems instead of gluing, making them easy to repair and dismantle at the end of their life. A clear example of this is the new headlight, where the lens, frame, housing and electronics are no longer irreversibly glued together but screwed together to simplify the replacement of a single damaged component.
Mercedes’ central idea is that an end-of-life car should not be a problem, but a valuable resource. To this end, it has launched urban mining projects to recover end-of-life batteries and valuable materials, closing the material cycle.
Currently, steel produced from 100% scrap is already being used, and the target is 86% for post-consumer recycled aluminium.
Old tyres are converted into pyrolysis oil to make new plastics or sound-absorbing materials. Discarded airbags are converted into engine mounts or valve housings.
Components such as the windscreen washer fluid reservoir are made from 100% recycled polypropylene, and the underbody coverings are made entirely from plastics from end-of-life vehicles.
The Tomorrow XX strategy seems to anticipate and respond directly to the guidelines of the new EU proposal for a regulation on end-of-life vehicles, which aims to make the automotive industry a model of the circular economy.
The EU directive places strong emphasis on “design for recycling” and on setting minimum targets for recycled plastic in new cars.
Mercedes’ analytical approach, which assesses every kilogram of CO2 and the biodiversity of each component, also paves the way for the total traceability required by future European regulations towards Digital Product Passport.
The Tomorrow XX programme demonstrates that sustainability in the automotive sector is no longer an accessory, but a concrete part of research and development. The challenge posed by the EU with the new directive on end-of-life vehicles is ambitious, but with technological innovation and the involvement of the entire supply chain, it is possible to transform the car into a truly circular product.