---
title: "This Tiny Electric Car Is Made From 80 Percent Recycled Plastics"
description: "Design firm Mandalaki has unveiled the Birò O2, a concept electric car in which 80 percent of parts are made from recycled plastics."
date: "2019-05-14"
modified: "2019-05-14"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/biro-o2-electric-car-recycled-plastics"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "concept car"
  - "mandalaki"
  - "plastic"
  - "recycling"
  - "the digest"
---

# This Tiny Electric Car Is Made From 80 Percent Recycled Plastics

![Design firm Mandalaki has unveiled the Birò O2, a concept car in which 80 percent of parts are made from recycled plastics.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/biro-o2-electric-car-recycled-plastics.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Mandalaki\</em\>*

## Green Light

Milan-based design studio Mandalaki recently [unveiled the Birò O2](<https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/biro-02-concept-car-ev-80-percent-plastic/>), a concept car that puts a sustainable twist on Italian carmaker Estrima's Birò, a tiny two-seater electric vehicle currently available for sale in Europe.

[According to Mandalaki](<http://www.mandalaki.com/biro-o2/>), 80 percent of the Birò O2's parts are made from recycled plastics, a higher percentage than any other vehicle on the market — and the innovative car could soon help the world deal with its abundance of [plastic waste](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/united-states-refuses-plastic-waste-pact>).

## Slow and Steady

Mandalaki molded the structural elements for the Birò O2 out of finely ground plastic recyclables, producing other parts, such as the steering wheel, out of non-recycled plastic.

The result of the firm's efforts is a compact EV that can travel 100 kilometers (62 miles) on a single charge, with a top speed of 65 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour).

## Next Level

Mandalaki and Estrima aim to make the Birò O2 available for purchase by June 2019. They're also working on a car produced from 100 percent recycled parts, with the goal of having that one ready by the end of 2020.

"As a design studio, we are fascinated by the automotive world and, in general, by the world of performance," Mandalaki designer Enrico De Lotto [told *Dezeen*](<https://www.dezeen.com/2019/05/09/mandalaki-biro-o2-recycled-plastic-concept-car/>). "We try to develop projects that can have a real impact on people's lives, and not just make things that are nice to look at — projects should be functional and solve needs."

**READ MORE:** [All-electric Birò 02 concept car made from 80% recycled plastics](<https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/biro-02-concept-car-ev-80-percent-plastic/>) \[*Digital Trends*\]

**More on plastic waste:** [*The End of Plastic Has Officially Arrived*](<https://futurism.com/end-plastic-officially-arrived>)

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)