BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG (A)

This 1993 case study examines BMW's strategic response to proposed German 'take-back' legislation requiring car manufacturers to manage the end-of-life disposal and recycling of their vehicles. It highlights the environmental challenge of Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR), the technical difficulties of recycling diverse automotive polymers, and the shifting landscape of German waste management away from landfills and toward incineration and resource recovery.

• In 1990, the German government proposed a 'take-back' policy that would make automobile manufacturers responsible for the final disassembly, disposal, and recycling of their vehicles. The draft legislation, titled 'Draft: The Federal Government's Policy on the Reduction, Minimization, or Utilization of Scrapped Vehicle Wastes,' aimed to implement a nationwide system by the end of 1993 and reduce automotive shredder waste (ASR) by 60%, bringing it down to just over 200,000 tonnes per year.
• The German vehicle recycling industry consists of approximately 4,000 dismantlers and 44 shredders, which together recycle nearly 95% of scrapped vehicles. While dismantlers recover valuable components, shredders process the remaining hulks, producing Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR) or 'fluff'—composed of plastic, foam, rubber, glass, and dirt—which makes up 25% of the vehicle and has no economic value. ASR accounts for 400,000 tonnes of solid waste, representing 65% of Germany's annual industrial solid waste stream.
• The increasing use of polymers in vehicles to reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency has negatively impacted recyclability. A typical vehicle now contains more than 20 different polymers and alloys. The proliferation of these materials makes disassembly more costly and increases the percentage of ASR, which in turn increases landfill and incineration costs and may lead to illegal vehicle disposal.

APA

Cummings, C. A., & den Hond, F. (1993). BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG (A). World Resources Institute. https://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-128-4_full_version_a_english.pdf

Chicago

Cummings, Christopher A., and Frank den Hond. BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG (A). World Resources Institute, 1993. https://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-128-4_full_version_a_english.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cummings |first1=Christopher A. |last2=den Hond |first2=Frank |title=BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG (A) |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=1993 |url=https://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-128-4_full_version_a_english.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cummings1993bayerische, author = {Cummings, Christopher A. and den Hond, Frank}, title = {{BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG (A)}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {1993}, url = {https://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-128-4_full_version_a_english.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }