Jaguar Land Rover has entered the automakers’ race for the climate-conscious dollar by pledging to create interiors using recycled waste materials.
It is working to use nylon for its luxury interiors made from plastic waste harvested from oceans and landfill sites. JLR says its next-generation cars will feature floor mats and trim made with nylon yarn woven from recycled industrial plastic, fabric off-cuts from clothing manufacturers, fishing nets abandoned in the ocean, known as “ghost nets.”
The commitment to designing sustainable luxury interiors using responsibly sourced and recycled materials is part of JLR’s Destination Zero mission, hoping to use innovation to make environments safer and cleaner while still offering customers a premium, sustainable option.
The regenerated nylon is created by Aquafil, which already has been used by high-end fashion, sportswear and luxury watch brands to create handbags, backpacks, swimwear and watch straps. In a single year, the company recycles as much as 40,000 metric tons of waste, claiming its recycling process reduces by 90% the global warming impact of nylon compared with the material produced from oil. For every 10,000 tons of its Econyl raw material (below) produced, 70,000 barrels of crude oil are saved and 65,100 tons of carbon emissions equivalent are avoided.
Currently, Land Rover offers a premium Eucalyptus textile interior on the Range Rover Evoque while Evoque, Range Rover and Jaguar’s all-electric I-Pace offer as an option Kvadrat, a material that combines durable wool with a suede cloth made from 53 recycled plastic bottles per vehicle.
Adrian Iles, senior engineer-interior systems at JLR, says: “Our designers and engineers are committed to developing the next generation of sustainable materials that will feature on future Jaguar and Land Rover models. We place a great deal of focus on the creation of new sustainable materials, using the latest, most innovative techniques and textiles.
“This pioneering materials research is one of the key ways we’ll achieve this and is an integral part of our design offering to our customers.”
