INNOVATION | RECYCLING
Right: Axion Polymers says its recycled polymers can be tailored to suit clients’ specifications for use in a wide range of new products
accordance with market evolution and will rely on the collective efforts of the value chain. Collaboration between injection moulders, manufacturers and plastic recyclers is key to creating new end markets for recycled polymers, according to Axion Polymers in the UK, which says it will help meet rising demand for recycled content and improve the overall economics of recycling. The company adds that with more manufacturers, especially those in the automotive and electrical sectors, looking to increase recycled content in new goods, this presents opportunities for injection moulders to consider alternatives to virgin material. Axion says that at its two processing sites,
plastics recovered from end-of-life vehicles (auto shredder waste) and waste electrical goods are refined into high-quality engineering polymers that match virgin material quality. Recycled Axpoly and Axplas polymers can be tailored to suit customers’ specifications for use in a wide range of new products. The company adds that the economic feasibility
of recycling depends on stable end markets that justify the cost of processing. Moulders working with recyclers on understanding physical polymer properties, and crucially, engaging in practical trials to understand the suitability of a recycled polymer in new applications can gain a competitive advan- tage in emerging circular economy markets. Some closed loop recycling exists, primarily in
PET and HDPE packaging, says Axion. Although closed loop recycling is not vital, if it can be achieved it allows for the same grade of polymer to be reused in the same application. This removes some of the technical barriers of using recycled content. However, in many cases, closed loop cannot be achieved because products may be collected in a mixed stream, where separation of different polymer grades is not technically or economically possible. In this case, manufacturers
48 INJECTION WORLD | July/August 2020
need to consider using alternative polymer types or blends if they want to increase recycled content. This brings a potential technical barrier. In many
cases, a moulded product is designed to use a specific grade of polymer with very specific properties. The company that produces the moulded product may not be involved in specify- ing the material, and so will be reluctant to use any polymer that does not conform to the exact original specification. The potential technical barrier then becomes a “resistance” to use recycled content due to perceptions about its ability to meet virgin material specifications. However, in many cases products do not need such rigid specifications, and in reality, a wide range of different grades of a polymer or even different blends of polymers may work well in certain applications. Blending PE and PP from plastic film to use in injection moulding of PP products is a prime example of what can work successfully. Products such as crates, bins and buckets can even benefit from a PE/PP blend as the properties can complement each other, says the company.
“Moulders should work with recyclers to ensure
that the recycled polymer is as suitable as possible for an application,” says Mark Keenan, Business Development Manager. “At Axion Polymers, we work with our customers to get recycled content into their products or help them use a different polymer formulation altogether. Practical trials are the only way to truly understand the suitability of a recycled polymer.” Collaborators in the ChemCycling project
– BASF, Jaguar Land Rover, Storopack, Südpack and Schneider Electric – used K2019 to showcase prototypes made from chemically recycled material. At the end of 2018, BASF first used pilot volumes of a pyrolysis oil derived from plastic waste as a feedstock in its own production. At K2019, the first
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IMAGE: AXION
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