The automobile manufacturer Audi aims to reintroduce materials after the end of their service life into the value chain and thus gradually close resource loops. Chief Procurement Officer Dr. Renate Vachenauer explains in an interview with LOGISTIK HEUTE how economic efficiency and sustainability go hand in hand.
"In the initial expansion phase, since the beginning of 2025 we are making available, among other things, several thousand pre-series vehicles for steel recycling. These will be shredded by TSR and processed
into high-quality recycling raw materials for further use in the automotive industry," says Audi Chief Procurement Officer Vachenauer. "In return we gain access to the secondary material obtained from these vehicles, which is credited to a so-called digital material account. The first vehicles are already successfully in the recycling loop and we have already booked several hundred tons of steel on the material account. In the next step we now want to use this cost advantage in new vehicle
projects."
To close material cycles in industry, according to Vachenauer, usually several companies must collaborate. "The digital material account is a first step to keep recycling feedstocks or secondary materials from end-of-life vehicles deliberately in the loop."
This, according to the Chief Procurement Officer, has advantages for all parties: "The recycling partner, in the specific case TSR, benefits from a predictable input stream of end-of-life vehicles and potential buyers of the processed recycling materials. Potential suppliers to us gain
access to high-quality recyclates suitable for the automotive industry at stable terms – and can pass these on to us. As an automotive manufacturer, we can thus stabilize our raw-material supply chains under improved economic conditions and increase the share of post-consumer secondary material for our new vehicles – without compromises in quality and cost."
The complete interview with Dr. Renate Vachenauer, Chief Procurement Officer of Audi, can be read in LOGISTIK HEUTE 9/2025. The issue has recently been
