BMW Group Wraps Up FSCM Research Project: Plastics, Metals and Design for the Circular Economy

Aug 25

3 min read

Updated: Aug 26

Three years of research, one goal: closing material loops without compromising on safety or quality. With the research project Future Sustainable Car Materials (FSCM), the BMW Group worked alongside 15 partners from industry and academia to do exactly that – and the project now delivers near-production-ready results across four work areas: plastics, metals, digitalization, and design for circularity.

The project was funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Project lead Martin Derks, Head of Plastics at the BMW Group, sums up the starting point: cutting emissions and closing material loops in research alone isn't enough – what matters is that new materials are actually ready for series production in the end. Building that bridge between the lab and series production was exactly what FSCM set out to do.

Plastics: Recyclates Put Through Real-World Testing

The plastics work package looked at how the CO₂e footprint of large component groups could be reduced through targeted use of recyclates – without compromising safety, quality, or functionality. The team tested both pre- and post-consumer plastics (recyclates recovered from packaging or discarded household products) as well as innovative closed-loop approaches, where materials are fed back into the production cycle at the end of a vehicle's life.

For applications such as instrument panel carriers and rear lights, the results allowed significantly higher recyclate content. At the same time, the research revealed clear limits – particularly for safety- or appearance-critical parts such as light- or current-carrying components, where recyclate materials aren't yet on par with virgin plastics. FSCM therefore delivers not just concrete solutions, but also a solid basis for deciding where recyclate use already makes sense today – and where further research is still needed.

Metals: Less Material, More Recycling – No Compromises on Safety

The metals work package focused on reducing the ecological footprint of core vehicle materials such as steel and aluminum – materials that are just as critical to structure and safety. The project partners pursued two main levers: saving material through new material and component concepts, and increasing the recyclate share to substitute energy-intensive primary raw materials.

Using demonstrators, including for safety-relevant body structures, the team showed that material can be used significantly more efficiently without compromising crash safety or quality requirements. That said, deployment remains tied to strict technical and safety-related conditions.

Digitalization: A Data Platform as a Decision-Making Foundation

To bring sustainable materials into series production faster, more transparently, and more reliably, the digitalization work package produced a digital data and information platform. It pools material properties, test results, and sustainability criteria, making them comparable and systematically evaluable – for example regarding recyclate quotas, quality, or application limits. This puts material decisions on a solid data foundation early in the development process.

Design for Circularity: Building in Circularity from the Start

The fourth work package focused on anchoring circularity into design itself – long before a component ever reaches series production. The emphasis was on material reduction, function integration, and easy separability and recyclability at the end of a vehicle's life. Three demonstrators show what that looks like in practice:

A bucket-seat concept
A wood-cork cockpit
A newly developed door panel with a load-bearing function for the interior handle and armrest

All three show how consistent design for circularity can save material and enable alternative materials, while maintaining high occupant protection through strong energy absorption. The BMW Group also emphasizes that these principles aren't limited to automotive manufacturing – they offer starting points for other industries too.

From Research to Series Production: The BMW iX3 as Proof

Just how well the transfer from research to series-production readiness works is demonstrated by the BMW Group using the Neue Klasse: the new BMW iX3 50 is made of roughly one-third secondary materials. Specifically:

Steering knuckles and wheel carriers (cast aluminum): 80% secondary material share
Cast aluminum wheels: 70% secondary aluminum

This isn't a research promise for the future – it's already built into a series-production vehicle today.

The FSCM Consortium

Fifteen partners from industry and research took part in the three-year project, including BMW AG, Evonik Operations, MOCOM Compounds, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, Constellium, Toray Industries Europe, three chairs at the Technical University of Munich, material.one, Forward Engineering, the DRÄXLMAIER Group, and the Fraunhofer Institutes ICT and WKI.

Conclusion

FSCM shows, step by step and work package by work package, how circularity in automotive manufacturing can move from research into actual series production. With the BMW iX3 50, the Neue Klasse already proves that a third of secondary materials is achievable in the premium segment, without compromising on safety or quality. For BMW fans, this project is worth a closer look for two reasons: it explains why the Neue Klasse is engineered the way it is – and where the sustainability journey is heading next.