Council finds ‘safer, smarter, more efficient’ vehicles reliant on plastics
According to a new report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC), plastics are becoming increasingly essential to make vehicles safer, lighter, and more technologically advanced.
And the role of automotive plastics will continue to grow with the expansion of self-driving and electrified vehicles, states an ACC press release.
The report finds that the average North American vehicle contained 428 pounds of plastics and polymer composites in 2025, or 9.6% of its total weight. That’s an increase of 18% from a decade ago. The materials account for more than half of a vehicle’s volume but less than 10% of its weight, the report states.
It also found that more than a dozen major resins are significantly used in vehicles, including, on average, 102 pounds of polypropylene (PP), 87 pounds of polyurethane foam, 45 pounds of nylon, 34 pounds of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and 31 pounds of polyethylene (primarily high-density polyethylene, or HDPE).
“Plastics make vehicles lighter, improving fuel efficiency and reducing fuel costs at the pump, while also enhancing safety,” the ACC release states. “The role of plastics in the components that prevent accidents and protect occupants in an accident cannot be overstated: seatbelts, airbags, sensors, cameras, and radars enabling automated collision avoidance and driver assistance, and structural components able to absorb greater crash energy than metals are all made with plastic, saving lives every day.”
Gina Oliver, senior director of durable markets at ACC, added that “plastics are woven into the safety, style, and everyday comforts drivers and passengers are accustomed to,” from the dashboard, cushioned seats, touchscreen displays, and lighted trim to steering wheel controls, rearview mirrors, and speakers.
ACC says there are pilot projects at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Global Impact Coalition that demonstrate the feasibility of recovering plastics from automobiles and the potential for broader commercial deployment.
“The plastics in end-of-life vehicles are too valuable to waste,” said Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastic Makers, in the release. “Our ability to recover and recycle these materials is not only important for driving sustainability, but it’s also increasingly central to global competitiveness. If we don’t recover more of those plastics from vehicles soon, we jeopardize our ability to sell American autos, parts and components in markets such as the European Union and Japan, where recycled-content requirements and targets are advancing.”
ACC adds that the growing use of plastics highlights the need to recover and recycle more automotive plastics at the end of a vehicle’s life.
“Greater investments in the infrastructure to dismantle, sort and recycle automotive plastics are needed in the U.S.,” the release states. “With advanced recycling technologies now capable of processing many of the specialized automotive plastics mechanical recycling can’t easily process, such as foam seat cushions, bumpers, and battery housings, there is tremendous potential to greatly increase the amount of material recovered from a vehicle to recycle into new auto components.”
ACC believes that collaboration is needed among automakers, parts suppliers, dismantlers, recyclers, and plastic producers.
However, it adds that federal policy is also needed to provide regulatory certainty for advanced recycling facilities, clear standards for recycled-content claims, and to align stakeholders across the auto recycling chain.
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