ZF wins MATERIALICA award for turning end-of-life transmission oil pans into recycled chassis parts
ZF, BASF and Mercedes-Benz turned polyamide 6 from end-of-life ZF transmission oil pans into a stabilizer link whose polymer content is 100 percent recycled material, earning ZF the 2026 MATERIALICA Award.
- 100 percent
- 2026
What Happened
Together with chemicals group BASF and carmaker Mercedes-Benz, ZF has demonstrated that polyamide 6 from end-of-life transmission oil pans can be turned into a new, technically demanding chassis component. The result is a stabilizer link, a connecting component for the chassis stabilizer, made of high-quality polyamide 6 whose polymer content consists of 100 percent recycled material. For the research carried out as part of the project, ZF received the 2026 MATERIALICA Award in the category CO2-Efficiency.
100percent
The new stabilizer link's polymer content is made entirely of recycled material.
“In this project, we demonstrated that a circular economy is possible in automotive manufacturing - without compromising on quality or performance. The award recognizes that achievement.”
The starting point was ZF transmission oil pans, which until now had been treated as contaminated waste - components from vehicles that have reached the end of their service life, known as end-of-life vehicle components (EoL). BASF depolymerized the parts, breaking them down into their original building blocks, purified them and processed them into a high-quality plastic material. The appropriate material system and the demonstrator component were selected at the ZF Plastics Technology Center in Dielingen in cooperation with Materials Technology, a unit of ZF's central Research and Development organization in Friedrichshafen. Comparative manufacturing trials were also conducted there, testing the recycled material against BASF's standard material using test specimens. Near-series testing of the material in the stabilizer link, a component for customer Mercedes-Benz, confirmed the technical feasibility and high quality of the recycled material.
- End-of-life ZF transmission oil pans were treated as contaminated waste
- Depolymerization into original building blocks, purification and processing into high-quality plastic material
- Stabilizer link with 100 percent recycled polymer content, validated in near-series testing
- ZF selected the material system and demonstrator component and carried out the manufacturing trials and near-series testing
- BASF handled the depolymerization and processing of the polyamide
- Mercedes-Benz investigated the stabilizer link for use in its vehicles
- Together the partners developed real automotive components from recycled PA6 for the first time and validated them on a pilot scale
“Together with our project partners, we have thus tested a tangible closed-loop material cycle from an end-of-life ZF part to a new ZF chassis component.”
Why this matters
ZF says the project shows a circular economy is possible in automotive manufacturing without compromising quality or performance. The recycled material was tested on existing ZF production equipment and in a component for customer Mercedes-Benz, so the finding is about whether current manufacturing can absorb recycled plastics. It also shows cross-industry partners advancing the circular economy for engineering plastics.
Terms in This Story
- Polyamide 6 (PA6)
- A type of engineering plastic used for technically demanding parts.
- Depolymerization
- A chemical process that breaks a plastic down into its original building-block molecules so the material can be reused.
- Stabilizer link
- A connecting component for the chassis stabilizer.
- End-of-life vehicle components (EoL)
- Parts from vehicles that have reached the end of their service life and are no longer used in regular operation.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.