Swiss automotive supplier, Autoneum is proposing automobile carpet systems made 100% polyester to give automakers more options for achieving their sustainability goals. The entirely recyclable carpet systems open the door for a better, more sustainable end-of-life recycling of electric vehicles.

The innovative monomaterial needlepunch and tufted carpets have a lower carbon footprint due to their high recycled PET content, zero waste production method, use of less energy, and lack of latex.

Typically multi-layered systems, and automotive carpets can be difficult to recycle. E-cars provide new possibilities for end-of-life recycling since the interiors of traditional automobiles powered by combustion engines are typically destroyed along with other pieces, primarily the vehicle bodies, making the recovery of textile items like carpets nearly impossible.

The need for products that are simple to disassemble, particularly carpets, is growing since the batteries must be removed from vehicles at the end of their useful lives in order to be recycled or properly disposed of.

However, such easily detachable parts must not only permit access to the battery at the end of its useful life but also must each be recycled separately.

Autoneum 100% polyester carpets expand on the Pure technologies already offered by the firm; the carpet surface, for instance, is composed of Di-Light or Relive-1, and the decoupler is built of PET Hybrid-Acoustics. The new monomaterial needlepunch and tufted carpets are made with a lot less energy and no water thanks to a different backcoating method that substitutes a thermoplastic glue for latex.

A German automobile maker that will soon sell electric models in Europe and Asia is already working on a tufted carpet system made entirely of polyester.