MBA Polymers UK, a world leader in plastic recycling, has launched a specialist processing line to recycle car bumpers from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), the company has announced.
The move will significantly advance its plans to create a fully circular economy for car bumpers in the UK.
The facility will also help car manufacturers meet proposed amendments to the ELV directive in the EU and the UK which has proposed that at least 25% of plastics in a car must be made from post-consumer material.
Based in Wimblington, near Cambridge, the dedicated line will be supplied from MBA Polymers’ growing number of collection sites and access feedstock from the UK’s biggest ELV recycler, EMR. This creates consistent and high-quality recycled resins for the production of high-impact polypropylene and filled polypropylene.
MBA Polymers UK’s pioneering technology and the reliable performance of its recycled plastics has already seen some of the largest automotive manufacturers switch to using the firm’s sustainable materials in their new vehicles.
By expanding the recycling of car bumpers, MBA Polymers UK will significantly reduce the more than 900,000 tonnes of plastic from cars which currently goes to landfill or incineration in the UK and EU each year.
In contrast, the sustainable materials MBA Polymers UK delivers on to manufacturers achieve carbon savings of between 75% and 86%, making them the first recycled plastics to carry the Carbon Trust’s Low CO2 label.
Earlier this year, MBA Polymers UK announced it had achieved RecyClass certification for the sorting, washing, extrusion and pellet production for a range of recycled plastics, including ABS, PP, FPP, HIPS and HDPE. RecyClass is a not-for-profit cross-industry initiative that uses rigorous scientific analysis to ensure the traceability of waste in plastic recycling processes based on the principles of the EN 15343 standards.
Paul Mayhew, General Manager at MBA Polymers, said:
“As the automotive industry faces the challenge of meeting recycling targets mandated by the upcoming revision to the EU’s ELV Directive, sourcing truly sustainable recycled plastics is becoming more important than ever.
The opening of this new dedicated line at our facility in Wimblington will enable MBA Polymers to recycle ever greater volumes of plastics, using our advanced separation and processing techniques to deliver high-quality polymers back to manufacturers.
Plastics make up around 12% of a cars’ weight, and this latest development highlights how MBA Polymers will enable the automotive industry to create truly circular supply chains on the path to net zero.”
For more information on MBA Polymers UK, visit mbapolymers.co.uk or call 01925 715400.
