Nissan's 2021 Rogue is its first SUV built using ‘closed-loop’ recycling system

In its latest green efforts, Nissan's all-new 2021 Rogue has become the company's first global model built using a 'closed-loop' recycling system for aluminum parts.

This model is built in Kyushu, Japan, and Smyrna, Tennessee. The process is being carried out by Nissan in collaboration with Kobe Steel and UACJ Corp in Japan, and with Arconic Corp and Novelis Inc in the US.

This recycling system helps reduce carbon emissions when compared with using parts made with primary alloys from raw materials. It also promotes the use of materials that don’t rely on newly mined resources as well as the reduction of waste from factories.

On the new Rogue, the hood and doors have been stamped from aluminum alloy - a material that reduces vehicle weight, helps improve fuel efficiency and power performance. As hoods and doors are stamped into shape, scrap material is shredded and extracted, keeping aluminum grades separate.

This separation ensures that high-quality scrap can be returned to suppliers, who can then turn the separated and reprocessed aluminum scrap into aluminum alloy sheets and redeliver them to Nissan for use in production.

As per the US-based Aluminum Association, recycling scrap aluminum saves more than 90% of the energy needed to create a comparable amount from raw materials. The organization estimates that nearly 75% of all aluminum made is still in use.

Nissan aims to replace 30% of the raw materials used in cars built in 2022 with materials that don’t rely on newly mined resources. Under its 'Nissan Green Program 2022', the company will use recycled materials and develop biomaterials, carry out recycling activities both at suppliers and in-house, and seek to reduce the weight of car bodies. This will also promote efficient and sustainable use of resources, including the use of renewable resources and recyclable materials.