RE:GENERATE by BMW Group Malaysia – a Second Life Initiative Echoing Global Ambitions for Carbon Neutrality.

BMW Group Malaysia has announced partnerships with Precious Plastic Malaysia, EV Connection and Pentas Flora under the RE:GENERATE initiative, which aims to develop impactful sustainable solutions on an organisational level to address pollution and climate change.

Hans de Visser, Managing Director of BMW Group Malaysia said, “The prevailing question of our time is how technology can continue to enrich our lives but also in doing so, minimise, if not eliminate completely the cost to our environment. With the RE:GENERATE initiative, we are echoing the Group’s ambitions of total climate neutrality by 2050 – a goal the Group aims to achieve across the entire value chain, from raw materials, production and all the beyond the end-of-life of components.”

He added, “Here at BMW Group Malaysia, we recognise that while sweeping change may be necessary to tackle the pressing issues regarding our environment, there are also many commonly overlooked issues in our everyday lives, such as plastic pollution, improper waste handling and so on. RE:GENERATE is the first of many initiatives that we are taking to address waste management on an organisational level; and we are proud to do so in partnership with industry players and innovators, such as Precious Plastic Malaysia, EV Connection and Pentas Flora.“

RE:GENERATE x Precious Plastic Malaysia.

Exemplifying BMW Group Malaysia’s solutions-focused direction, over 200 associates are putting words into action by working with Precious Plastic Malaysia – an organisation fights plastic pollution by converting and upcycling plastic waste into useable everyday items, to provide office, household and daily plastic waste a second, more meaningful life.

The project, which kickstarted in October 2021, will span well into the year ahead, with associates teaming up to upcycle collected plastic waste with Precious Plastic machines to make furniture for the orang asli community. The completed furniture will be placed in the EPIC Learning Hub that serves as a school for indigenous children in rural areas.

RE:GENERATE x EV Connection.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative across the BMW Group, BMW Group Malaysia has partnered with EV Connection to introduce an EV battery second-life programme. The partnership will see batteries that are at the end of their lifecycle be given a new lease of life in the form of portable vehicle chargers. This initiative aims to pivot the mindset of recycling automotive waste to repurposing, giving the batteries a more meaningful second life that also encourages the development of sustainable innovation and sharing of technological know-how.

The portable chargers, designed and developed by EV Connection – a pioneer in the field of EV charging solutions, feature power inverters that convert direct current (DC) from the battery modules to alternating current (AC) usable by the EV charger. Batteries retired from EV application usually still hold a substantial amount of energy remaining – suitable for less demanding applications, such as usage as a portable charger.

With this partnership, BMW Group Malaysia aims to divert all retired EV batteries to EV Connection to further expand on its electrification possibilities – including a roving EV charger and enabling rural electrification in the years to come.

RE:GENERATE x Pentas Flora.

This lubricant recycling initiative with BMW Group Financial Services Malaysia and Pentas Flora aims to reduce irresponsible dumping by converting vehicle maintenance waste – such as oils, solvents and used drum IBC tanks – into reusable energy sources that will make its way back into the automotive industry.

This new initiative is a recurring programme at multiple BMW authorised dealership service centres across Malaysia and works to not only convert vehicle maintenance waste directly from the source – but also to develop guidelines and provide training to dealers on proper waste management, based on DOE and Sustainability Standards.

Pentas Flora is one of Malaysia’s largest incumbent re-refined fuel oil providers, specializing in managing scheduled waste for clients across industries. Their aim is to build a sustainable environment by providing end-to-end solutions towards hazardous waste management.