AUTOMOTIVE | INNOVATION
He cited the potential replacement of glass fibre with recycled carbon fibre in polyamide applica- tions which results in density reduction. Diemert said uptake of recycled plastics could benefit from an opportunity for car makers to use new materials in the development of electric and hybrid vehicles. It is important to find specific applications for recycled plastics to be used, he said. Car bumpers are a good application for recy- cled plastics because of the large volumes of virgin polymer that can be replaced – this may become a priority for car companies if they decide to set recycling targets as Volvo has. The Plastics Industry Association in the US is leading a collaborative project in recycling car bumpers to explore the poten- tial for improving ELV plastics recycling. The purpose of the project, which involves 19 companies and organisations, is to create a model for how to utilise new sources of recycled plastics from ELV cars. Bumpers were chosen for their homogeneity of material and for their relative abundance, enabling recyclers and processors in the project to convert used bumpers into polyole- fin recyclate with many of the same qualities as virgin materials. The association’s President & CEO William
Carteaux said the results from Phase 1 of the project “are a promising indicator of the potential value that exists in recycled plastics from sources
that haven’t been tapped yet”. The initial work involved evaluating material converted from ELV bumpers into two forms: reprocessed and pel- letised with paint removed (PCR Repro TPO-paint) and simply shredded with the paint remaining (PCR Shred TPO+paint). The project started in July 2016 and within a few months approximately 4,500 lb of bumpers were collected and sent to recycler Geo-Tech Polymers for processing. One of the companies that tested the bumper
recyclate from Geo-Tech was Midland Com- pounding Co (MCC), which concluded that the PCR Repro TPO-paint from Geo-Tech offered good potential as a stream of recycled material (see table on next page). The project report said: “A few weeks after completing this study, MCC was asked by an automotive OEM to provide a sample of reprocessed TPO
material for a secondary mud flap on a small-volume vehicle. Its primary require- ment was that it needed to have a melt flow rate greater than 20 grams per 10 minutes. MCC decided to submit the Repro TPO-paint from Geo-Tech.
The material was moulded in mid-February 2017 and was given an initial approval by the Tier 2 injection moulding company. MCC will continue testing on this material to provide all the necessary data to the OEM for final approval.” Kendra Martin, Vice President of Industry Affairs at the Plastics Industry Association, said: “While the
Left: Secondary mud-flaps were made from recycled bumpers
during Phase 1 of the US project
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