A BMW Built From 90% Recycled Parts Broke a World Record

IT Asset Partners Inc. (ITAP), a hybrid recycling plant in California, has built an electric vehicle (EV) capable of traveling 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) on a single battery charge. This was enough to break the previous record of 1,298 kilometers (806 miles), which was set in Japan in 2013.

The car, known as The Phoenix, is a modified BMW built from 90 percent recycled parts. It cost just $13,000 to construct, less than half the price of the cheapest Tesla, but ITAP doesn't appear poised to jump into the EV market any time soon.

"The purpose of The Phoenix is to showcase hybrid recycling and demonstrate to the world the amazing possibilities and potential derived from electronic waste recycling," an ITAP spokesman told The Sun.

 

The record-breaking run highlights the value of investing in better recycling, especially of electronics. "Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the United States, yet our country lacks a real solution to efficiently process this waste system," explained the spokesman.

Researchers are working on better ways to handle e-waste, such as fungi that can extract lithium and cobalt from old batteries. Still, these innovations may be far from ready for adoption. In the meantime, we can harness recycled goods to help set new trends while also saving the planet.