BMW Group’s Recycling and Dismantling Center – or, the RDC – is one of the most sophisticated in the business. We’ve covered how BMW recycles cars in the past, and this year marks three decades of success for the firm. Mostly handling pre-production vehicles and other vehicles that cannot be sold, the RDC recycles several thousand cars and SUVs per year. But the organization’s contributions to the recycling and automotive industries over the last thirty years are shockingly broad.
Perhaps most notably, the plant and BMW Group were essential in arranging IDIS – the International Dismantling Information System. Today, around 3,000 organizations in over thirty countries use the joint recycling database to remain cost-effective and ensure valuable materials are recovered. The RDC uses a number of proprietary processes and equipment to remove fluids, scrapping catalytic converters, separating copper from wiring harnesses, and more. But the RDC’s reach is greater than that – and even impacts how the BMW you buy today is manufactured.
Despite being largely responsible for dismantling vehicles, the RDC has a huge impact on how BMW Group designs and makes vehicles. Production processes are constantly updated based on RDC findings. Whether it’s how a material breaks down, its ease of recovery, end-life usability or another aspect, taking out the trash has a tangible effect on how each car is produced. For example, glue has been replaced with alternative adhesives.
The RDC’s Future in Recycling
One of the biggest points for detractors of the electric vehicle is battery disposal. For years, the RDC has been responsible for working on ways to safely dispose of high-voltage batteries. Although, of course, there are other dedicated facilities for that – like the plant in Leipzig that repurposes i3 batteries. Both the RDC and plants like the one in Leipzig contribute enormously to BMW’s goal of circularity.
BMW perhaps sums it up best: “What began in 1994 as a new, company-owned recycling facility has transformed over three decades into a true center of excellence for vehicle recycling.” Here’s to thirty more years of taking apart BMWs, RDC.
