AIAG in Southfield Collaborates on Automotive Recycled Content Standards

The Supplier Partnership for the Environment (SP) in Washington, D.C. and the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) in Southfield have announced the publication of a new guidance document, “Measuring Recycled Content of Automotive Products.”
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The AIAG in Southfield and SP in Washington D.C. have released a guidance document for the recycled content standards in cars. // Stock Photo

The Supplier Partnership for the Environment (SP) in Washington, D.C. and the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) in Southfield have announced the publication of a new guidance document, “Measuring Recycled Content of Automotive Products.”

The document is designed to outline a common industry-supported definition and straightforward approach for measuring recycled content of automotive products consistent with those approaches outlined in other standards.

“As we continue forward in our aspiration to maximize use of sustainable content in vehicles, we decided to pull together a team of automakers and suppliers with the objective to develop straightforward common definitions of key terms related to the topic of sustainable materials to minimize duplication of effort and promote consistent approaches in communications with suppliers, sustainability reporting, and measuring industry progress,” says Reeshemah Howard, sustainability mission leader at General Motors Co.

The guidance document was produced through a collaborative process by SP’s materials efficiency work group — whose members include Ford Motor Co., G.M., Honda Development and Manufacturing of America, Stellantis, Toyota Motor North America — and the AIAG.

The two organizations are recommending that automotive companies reference the definitions and process outlined in the guidance, and that the document be distributed widely across the automotive supply chain as best practice guidance when determining the recycled content of an automotive product.

In the coming month, SP and AIAG also will release a companion guidance document outlining a common process for measuring the renewable content of automotive products.

“AIAG was pleased to collaborate with Suppliers Partnership in developing a common definition of recycled content for use throughout the automotive industry,” says Lecedra Welch, program manager for environmental sustainability at AIAG. “We believe this new guidance document will help reduce confusion associated with differing definitions, and consequently support industry efforts surrounding the use of sustainable and recyclable materials.

“Our team also plans to convene a new work group in the coming months to focus on sustainable materials-specific initiatives and developing additional resources for companies throughout the supply chain.”

The guidance document is available to download at no cost here.