Mercedes-Benz will become the first automaker in Europe to use Hydro Circal recycled aluminium in series production, deploying it on the next generation of its large electric vehicles. The material carries at least 75% post-consumer recycled content, against around 25% in the aluminium Hydro currently supplies.

That scrap is recovered from end-of-life vehicles, buildings and infrastructure, and collecting it near production shortens the regional supply chain. Moving from a quarter to three-quarters recycled content is the harder part of the claim, and Mercedes-Benz says the higher fraction still meets its performance, quality and safety requirements, long the standing objection to recycled metal in structural parts.

The partnership also covers CO2-reduced primary aluminium, with additional volumes of Hydro Reduxa going to Mercedes-Benz. That material is smelted using renewable electricity and carries a footprint more than 70% below the global average, though primary metal remains the emissions problem that recycling volumes alone cannot fix at automotive scale.

The pair signed a letter of intent in December 2022 on a low-CO2 technology roadmap to 2030 and widened it in 2024 across the full value chain. In a statement, Eivind Kallevik, President and Chief Executive of Hydro, said: “Combining recycled Hydro Circal aluminium with CO2-reduced primary Hydro Reduxa aluminium lets us speed up the shift to lower-CO2 vehicles while building more resilient value chains.”

Why this matters:

• 75% post-consumer recyclate in series production is a meaningful step beyond current industry norms.Most automotive aluminium contains around 25% recycled content; tripling that figure while maintaining the performance and safety standards required for large electric vehicle structures addresses a genuine materials decarbonisation challenge rather than a marginal one.
• Regional supply chains for recycled aluminium reduce both emissions and geopolitical exposure simultaneously.Keeping end-of-life vehicle aluminium in a closed loop close to production shortens logistics, improves traceability, and reduces dependence on primary aluminium smelting—which remains energy-intensive and heavily concentrated in regions where renewable energy availability varies significantly.