Fiat marks a significant turning point for the automotive industry and the circular economy: with the launch of the new Grande Panda, it becomes the first car manufacturer in the world to use recycled materials from beverage cartons inside a production vehicle.
Each Grande Panda contains recycled material equivalent to 140 beverage cartons, used in visible interior components such as the central console, dashboard, and door panels.
The material used is polyAl, a combination of polyethylene and aluminium derived from the recycling process of beverage cartons. These packages, mainly composed of cellulose, also contain layers of plastic and aluminium essential for their barrier function. It is precisely in the recovery of this non-cellulosic fraction that Tetra Pak plays a key role.
Tetra Pak’s role
Tetra Pak, a global leader in food packaging solutions, has been committed for years to developing technologies and partnerships to promote the full recycling of beverage cartons. While the fibrous part of these packages is already widely recovered to produce paper, Tetra Pak is heavily investing in creating industrial outlets for the polyAl component, working with businesses and innovators in the sector to transform it into high-value materials.
It is from this vision that the collaboration with Lapo Compound was born — an Italian company that developed Lapolen Ecotek: a high-performance plastic material made from recycled polyAl, meeting the demanding aesthetic and functional standards of the automotive industry.
Towards More Sustainable and Circular Mobility
The initiative is part of Fiat’s “less is more” strategy, which aims to simplify, reduce the use of polluting materials, and make vehicles more accessible and sustainable. Furthermore, Fiat is ahead of targets set by the European Commission, which require at least 25% of recycled plastic in end-of-life vehicles.
The Fiat Grande Panda is already on sale in many European countries and will reach non-European markets by the end of 2025. Lapo Compound is also exploring new applications for Lapolen Ecotek in other sectors, paving the way for a new generation of versatile recycled materials.
