MATERIALS | TECHNOLOGY INFRASTUCTURE


Pipes use up to 65%


recyclate UK-based Polypipe Building Services says it will now make its range of Terrain PVC pipes with up to 65% recycled materials. These will be produced to British Standard EN1453 to ensure equivalent strength and durability. “This maintains quality and performance while supporting a move to a circular economy that makes best use of construction waste,” said Andy Cullum, UK manag- ing director at Polypipe Building Services. The launch follows


extensive testing and an investment of more than £2.4 million (US$3m) to allow the use of recycled material from PVC windows. Terrain pipes will be produced as a multi-layer product. Polypipe’s parent company, Genuit, intends to use 62% recycled materials in its products by 2025. � www.polypipe.com


COMPOUNDS PVC compounds with high recycled content


Alphagary has introduced a range of PVC compounds that use a high percentage of recycled content. Its Infinitude series of PVC com- pounds is designed for both moulding and extrusion applications. Grades formulated with up to 70%


recycled content have been used by customers in applications including


www.pipeandprofile.com


irrigation and garden hoses. “Based on our lab analysis and customer feedback, we found that these compounds function similarly to those formulated with all prime materials in how they process and perform in the end applications,” said Angelica Fram, head of quality assurance at Alphagary in Colombia.


The launch is part of the company’s


larger PVC In Motion project with sister company Vestolit. The project aims “to find avenues where local processing companies separate and clean the material, and then process and ship it to us so we can incorporate into our compounds”. � www.alphagary.com


March/April 2023 | PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION 35 PEX


New PEX pipe produced from chemical recycling


Neste, Borealis, Uponor and Wastewise have teamed up to make cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) pipes from chemi- cally recycled feedstock – derived from PEX pipe. The partners believe this


is one of the first imple- mentations of chemical recycling of PEX. The co-operation sees


Wastewise use its pyrolysis- based chemical recycling technology to liquefy industrial waste from Uponor’s PEX pipe production. It then breaks the polymer back into its building blocks, to create an oil-like raw material. This is then co-processed in Neste’s oil refinery in Finland and upgraded into RETM – a drop-in feedstock for making new polymers. Borealis feeds the raw material into its steam cracker and polymerises it into polyethylene as part of its Borcycle C chemical recycling portfolio. Finally, Uponor uses the PE to create new PEX pipe,


which is used in the con- struction sector for heating, plumbing and cooling purposes. It can even be used for sensitive applica- tions with high require- ments, such as drinking water systems. “We are excited about this collaboration as it gives us a head start on our transition to circular materi- als,” said Thomas Fuhr, chief technology officer at Uponor. “Our new long-term goal is to use 100% of our PEX waste as raw material through closed loop recycling.” Kaisa Suvilampi, manag-


ing director at Wastewise, added: “Through our processes, we were able to turn PEX into pyrolysis oil of sufficient quality to use it as input for a refinery – which in turn can process it into a high-quality cracker feed. This project strikes certain PEX off from the list of materials giving recyclers a headache.” Around six months elapsed between the start of the project and produc- tion of the first pipes. � www.neste.com � www.borealisgroup.com � www.uponor.com � www.wastewise.fi


IMAGE: UPONOR


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