Polycycle

Lena was a BMW Delegate at One Young World 2017. She had many ideas of how to revolutionise her company but soon realised that she needed to start with her direct area of responsibility – purchasing. She teamed up with two interior developers, Anna Goldhofer and Julia Graf.

This bottom-up initiative began in the short-term with increasing the use of recycled material from old fisher nets and industrial waste, as an alternative to crude oil. Polycycle managed to implement recycled materials in the carpet of two million future BMWs.

The next development they have driven is towards not only improving the creation of plastic-fibre car mats, but to remove the negative environmental consequences of their disposal. The mats are made of composites which are very difficult to separate and therefore normally burned. With help from BMW Accelerator and suppliers, the team has developed new floor mats, consisting of materials, that are 100% recyclable.The vision is to make new floor mats out of old floor mats.

This simple but effective innovation not only decreases the footprint of floor mats, but it also led to other circular economy projects and inspired many colleagues to act likewise. Therein lies the benefit Lena, Anna and Julia see in working within big business, as the smallest chances can end up having a significant impact.