Made in Britain member, Axion Polymers, has launched a new range of strong and durable 100% recycled ABS grades suitable for a range of injection moulding applications – particularly in the fenestration, construction and automotive sectors - offering both cost and carbon savings.
Recovered from the non-metallic waste fraction from end-of-life vehicles, the Axpoly® r-ABS resins deliver a carbon footprint saving of two-thirds when compared with virgin ABS made from petrochemical feedstocks.
A full LCA study of Axion’s mechanical recycling process shows a saving of 2.1 tonne CO2 eq. for every tonne of ABS they produce. That is equal to the CO2 impact of driving a 44-tonne articulated road haulage vehicle 1,400 miles.
An additional advantage of using recycled polymers from a UK-sourced closed-loop supply chain is stable and competitive pricing because the input raw material costs are not linked to the volatile oil market. Axion Director Keith Freegard observes that some of their competitors are increasing prices due to post-Brexit exchange rate changes. He states: “Anyone purchasing polymer from central Europe will be facing around a 15% price increase. Manufactured from feedstocks collected in Britain, our polymers are not affected by exchange rate changes. What better time than now to buy British!”
Axion joined Made in Britain to further promote the benefits of using its fully UK-sourced sustainable plastics to British manufacturers. Keith continues: “Our vast local ‘urban mine’ of raw material, converted in a local process plant and operating under local regulations within GB’s economy gives our customers stability, reliability, consistency and long-term confidence in polymer resin supply.
“Axion Polymers joined Made in Britain because we share in the values and benefits of that organisation. There is a resurgence of ‘Pride in Britain’ and we are proud to support and be part of it!”
Axion Polymers high-quality 100% recycled Axpoly® plastics are mechanically separated at its Shredder Waste Advanced Processing Plant (SWAPP) in Manchester and then further refined at the Salford polymer compounding site. All production batches are traceable back to the origin of the raw material as part of an integrated, closed-loop, automotive materials resource recovery system.
“Their traceability enables manufacturers to enhance the green credentials of products, such as building products or automotive components, and produce them at a lower cost than using virgin polymers,” says Product Development Technologist Mark Keenan. “Our new r-ABS polymers are ideal for compression load applications and have recently been used to mould load plates for reinforced steel beams as well as strengtheners in the corners of windows.”
Chemical Engineer Dr Pasika Chongcharoentaweesuk adds: “We carried out a ‘bench-marking’ exercise to compare the physical properties of Axpoly r-ABS with competitive products and also with hand-sorted ABS pieces recycled from flat-panel TV displays. The results prove that our advanced recycling processes can deliver a finished product with properties that match the equivalent products in the market and a purity that is as good as laborious hand-sorting operations.”
Axion Polymers has been awarded Silver status under global supplier assessment system EcoVadis, set up to evaluate companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings with the aim of improving their environmental and social practices.
Axion Polymers is part of the Axion Group that develops and operates innovative resource recovery and processing solutions for recycling waste materials. The Group works with a wide range of clients within the recycling and process industries on the practical development of new processing and collection methods.
For more information, visit www.axionpolymers.com; @axionpolymers.
By Made in Britain 7 years ago | By Made in Britain