LyondellBasell has launched a new recycled resin made from recovered maritime plastics. The new resin is the fruit of a collaboration with an unnamed ‘renowned’ German original equipment manufacturer and a plastic mechanical recycler, according to a statement by the Netherlands-based chemical company.
Called CirculenRecover PPC TRC 2179N, the PP copolymer recyclate can be used in injection moulding for automotive applications, a first for the industry. Whilst the automotive industry already uses recycled maritime plastics for some vehicle components, so far the plastic has only taken the form of fibres. LyondellBasell described achieving a recycled ocean plastic resin for injection moulding as a ‘breakthrough’.
The injection-moulded components are trim parts used in visible areas of the interior of various car models. The resin grade is produced from pre-sorted fishing nets, which LyondellBasell processes into a high-quality recyclate and compounds with virgin materials.
“Who would have thought that maritime waste can be one of the solutions to create more sustainable cars?” asked Michael Büdinger, business development manager at LyondellBasell. “As part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission is currently investigating measures to increase the circularity of vehicles, one of them being the use of up to 25% of post-consumer plastic waste. Maritime waste will support [equipment manufacturers] in reaching this goal.”
Other industry leaders are also working towards this goal, for example through the Future Sustainable Car Materials (FSCM) initiative, launched at the end of 2022. The German consortium includes BMW Group, Evonik, Thyssenkrupp, the Fraunhofer Institute, and the Technical University of Munich, and aim to develop new processes for using sustainable materials in automotive production.
Source: sustainableplastics.com
