Wietek GmbH (Industriegebiet Eisen, D-66625 Nohfelden) and Auto Recycling Nederland BV (ARN, Postbus 74710, NL-1070 BS Amsterdam) have agreed to cooperate in the recovery of plastics from automobile components. The processes at Wietek work with specially selected solvents to reclaim the required thermoplastics. The agreement concerns the return of materials from rear lights and radiator grills to the materials cycle.

ARN was founded in October 1993 by the Dutch automobile industry. Its aim is to reuse at least 86% of the material weight of used cars by the year 2000, thus reducing the amount of waste. It is financed by a scrapping fee of NLG 250 per car, which must be paid upon registration. The 275 car assembly companies which belong to ARN so far expect to "process" over 250,000 used cars in 1997. In the future, this figure is expected to increase to about 450,000 per year in the Netherlands.

After successfully concluding the pilot stage in 1996, Wietek and ARN have created the necessary conditions for dismantling and reprocessing a volume of about 50 t per month from July 1997 onwards. Under the direction of ARN, rear lights and radiator grilles will be dismantled, collected, shredded and delivered to Wietek. Wietek will then use a special process to ensure the reclamation of ABS and PMMA. If possible, these recycled materials are to be reused in the automobile industry in order to close the materials cycle.