High-quality reuse of valuable raw materials – as completely as possible: This gold standard of recycling is becoming a reality in Győr. The closed aluminum cycle is a pioneering achievement that saves the company considerable resources and reduces its ecological footprint. The core idea of the “Aluminum Closed Loop”: aluminum waste generated during production is collected, sorted by type, and returned to a supplier, who produces new aluminum strips in original quality. These are reused in production at Audi Hungaria. As a result, the use of primary raw materials drops significantly, as aluminum waste from the press plant can now be recycled as secondary raw material. Additionally, producing secondary aluminum consumes only 5 percent of the energy required for primary aluminum production.

Geothermal energy is our energy: Audi Hungaria covers a significant proportion of its thermal energy requirements with the help of geothermal energy. Since 2012, a geothermal energy plant has been in operation, which provides more than 70 percent of the site's thermal energy requirements. The output of this plant makes our company the largest industrial geothermal energy consumer in the whole of Hungary. The plant provides Audi Hungaria with at least 82,000 megawatt hours of thermal energy per year. Since we have been able to put geothermal energy at the service of our company, we have avoided the emission of more than 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year. We offset the remainder of our heating energy requirements with biogas certificates.

Ecological diversity is very important to us: To preserve biodiversity, Audi Hungaria therefore joined the "we4bee" initiative in May 2021, which is supported by the Audi Environmental Foundation. As part of this project, we expanded our own beekeeping facilities on the factory premises to include a beehive equipped with high-tech sensors. These sensors are used to record a wide range of data on temperature, humidity, air pressure, weight, vibration and fine dust pollution. The program aims to compare around 100 smart beehives, most of which are located in Germany, using the data collected. This allows scientists to study the pollination behavior of bees and the effects of the environment on bee colonies. The researchers' aim is to support the work of beekeepers in the short term. In the long term, the behaviour of insects should even make it possible to predict environmental events such as storms or earthquakes.

The dry separation process using stone powder, applied in car body painting, is an energy- and water-saving technology. This method is highly efficient, as it significantly reduces both water and energy consumption and leads to a substantial decrease in VOC emissions. No waste is generated during the process; instead, a by-product is created, which can be reused as a raw material in the cement industry.

In Audi Hungaria's disposal logistics, Büchl Hungaria uses an e-truck to transport aluminum waste within the aluminum closed-loop process between Audi Hungaria and an external interim storage facility.

Lower maintenance costs not only contribute to improved economic efficiency, but also reduce the CO2 footprint by around 40 tons per year. A charging station for e-trucks is currently being installed on the factory premises. This means that waiting times at the pressing plant caused by charging processes can be used time-efficiently, the availability of the e-trucks can be increased and additional distances can be saved.

A new technology for recycling rubber waste: Thanks to the cooperation between AUDI HUNGARIA Zrt. and NEW ENERGY Kft., the rubber waste generated at the Győr-based company's site is now chemically recycled, thus avoiding the emission of microplastics and the pollutants released into the environment during recycling. The process used is pyrolysis. The rubber is converted into oil through chemical recycling. Petrochemical companies use it for the production of new plastics, while the resulting carbon black is used in tyre production. The gases produced during pyrolysis are used to generate the high temperatures required for the process.