ISRI2017: Recycled plastics make inroads in auto applications
ISRI2017: Recycled plastics make inroads in auto applications
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While it’s not necessarily an easy road to travel, recycled plastics increasingly are being used in automotive applications, according to sessions at ISRI2017, the annual convention of the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), which was April 22-27 in New Orleans.
Bill Schreiber, who retired from Tucker, Georgia-based Lehigh Technologies March 1, 2017, spoke about the process for recycling thermoplastic olefin (TPO) bumpers. He filled in for Ron Whaley, CEO of Waverly, Ohio-based Geo-tech Polymers, who was unable to speak because of an illness in his family.
Lehigh produces an ultrafine recycled rubber powder that is used as a functional filler in a range of plastic compounds. The company works with plastics recycler and compounder ACI Plastics, headquartered in Flint, Michigan, which recycles TPO bumpers and other automotive components. ACI uses Geo-Tech’s technology to remove paint from incoming bumpers prior to recycling. The company has four such tanks with a total paint removal capacity of 6 million tons annually. ACI can achieve a yield of 90 percent on the TPO bumpers its processes, according to Schreiber, who added that this material accounts for much ACI’s business.
All metals clips and non-TPO components must be removed prior to downsizing the bumpers. Schreiber said the final size of the ground TPO material is critical, as it must be small enough for the chemical paint-removal process to work but not so small that a too many fines are produced. ACI then compounds the ground material with a twin-screw extruder, which can help to remove paint contamination that the chemical process missed, he said.
On average, 20 percent to 25 percent recycled material is blended with virgin TPO, Schreiber said, adding that little degradation of the impact strength of the recycled TPO occurs.
Also speaking during the session on auto bumpers was Sue Kozora, director of advanced engineering, North America, at International Automotive Components (IAC), Southfield, Michigan, a company that provides interior parts to all automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) made in part from postindustrial recycle content.
Kozora said bumpers are targeted for recycling because they are easy to remove from vehicles. She said recycled TPO used in this application should get kudos because bumpers are a safety product with “particular requirements” set by government.
To achieve optimal reuse of TPO and other plastics used in automotive applications, Kozora said regrind from the supplier should be screened initially to understand the effects of multiple heats and changes in the molecular weight and other material properties. The material also should be incorporated into molding trials.
She suggested planning for scrap disposition early in the design process, adding that if a part has a high scrap rate, it should be able to consume scrap or target another outlet that does. She also said it was important to design with the intent of using a common family of materials to reduce variability.
Kozora also spoke during a session on how the growth in natural gas production is affecting plastics recycling’s profitability. She said there are no shortcuts when it comes to using recycled plastics, which she likes to refer to as “experienced resins,” in automotive applications.
Her company, IAC, consumes 53.3 million pounds of recycled resins, with the company’s internally generated scrap accounting for 17 million pounds of that figure. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) makes up 9.4 million pounds of that material, while polypropylene (PP) is the next largest recycled resin the company consumes at 5.5 million tons, followed by polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene PC/ABS at 5 million pounds.
While Kozora said recycled materials can conform to automotive industry standards and have been used for decades, she added that a stigma persists, a sentiment that was echoed by other speakers during ISRI2017. OEM specifications, expectations and targets vary widely for recycled plastics, and OEMs require the same level of multilot statistical data for recycled materials as they do for virgin plastics, Kozora said. OEMs might use the same specifications for virgin plastics or they may use specifications specific to recycled materials.
She added that OEMs “usually” expect recycled plastics to cost less than their virgin counterparts, even if they perform the same way. On average, she said, OEMs expect recycled plastics to be 10 percent to 50 percent less expensive than virgin plastics.
Kozora said recycled plastics likely won’t totally replace virgin plastics in automotive applications, adding that the materials must responsibly coexist. And while finding reliable, consistent supplies of some recycled plastics can be challenging, she noted that virgin materials are not necessarily worry-free, noting that her company has experienced a number of force majeure events affecting supply in her lifetime.
From an engineering standpoint, Kozora said it was important to design for recycling as well as for using recycled material.
Another ISRI2017 session dealt with getting recycled reins approved for use by the auto industry. Eric Connell, senior engineer for Toyota Motor Corp., who is based in Dexter, Michigan, said his company seeks to balance environmental performance with customer need when using recycled materials.
He provided information on Toyota’s attempt to use recycled plastic in a hidden interior part made of polypropylene (PP). While he said “a lot of recycled material is available,” the company decided not to incorporate it into the part because it increased its mass by 7 percent. He said, “Black material had a higher density because of the additional carbon” used to color the material. Increasing mass is against Toyota policy, however, so the company did not pursue the use of recycled content in this application.
Connell said Toyota needs “lot-to-lot consistency” in the recycled plastics it uses. “Many recycled resin compounders cannot meet lot-to-lot variability targets.” He also said that the perception lingers that recycled materials are not suitable for use in safety parts. “Part of the problem with plastics is the perception that recycled material has inferior quality,” he said.
“Cost is also an issue. The delta is not enough to get people to take the plunge.”
Toyota does not have a separate specification for the recycled resins it uses, he said. If the company can find recycled plastics that meet its specs and master color requirements and have the same properties for tooling compatibility from suppliers that can manage material variability from lot to lot and deliver strong and consistent supply, then recycled plastics can be used.
Sassan Tarahomi, director of R&D and process engineering at Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers Inc., based in the Detroit area, agreed that the use of recycled resins in autos is governed by performance, cost and density issues.
He also suggested that mandates for the use of recycled plastic in cars are needed to push further progress in this area.
Tarahomi said OEMs and their Tier 1 suppliers must do a better job designing plastic parts for disassembly and avoiding using dissimilar materials in the same assemblies.
Derek Reed, senior resin sales executive for Padnos, Wyoming, Michigan, said using recycled plastics in automotive applications requires getting the support of molders, Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs, in particular securing buy-in from their engineering and purchasing departments.
“Having automotive approval means your material meets specification,” Reed said. “Parts suppliers can’t use your product without this approval.”
He said OEMs are largely looking for cost savings when purchasing recycled resins rather than virgin plastics.
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Source: Recycling Today
ISRI2017: Recycled plastics make inroads in auto applications
<![CDATA[While it’s not necessarily an easy road to travel, recycled plastics increasingly are being used in automotive applications, according to sessions at ISRI2017, the annual convention of the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), which was April 22-27 in New Orleans. Bill Schreiber, who retired from Tucker, Georgia-based Lehigh Technologies March 1, 2017, spoke about the process for recycling thermoplastic olefin (TPO) bumpers. He filled in for Ron Whaley, CEO of Waverly, Ohio-based Geo-tech Polymers, who was unable to speak because of an illness in his family. Lehigh produces an ultrafine recycled rubber powder that is used as a functional filler in a range of plastic compounds. The company works with plastics recycler and compounder ACI Plastics, headquartered in Flint, Michigan, which recycles TPO bumpers and other automotive components. ACI uses Geo-Tech’s technology to remove paint from incoming bumpers prior to recycling. The company has four such tanks with a total paint removal capacity of 6 million tons annually. ACI can achieve a yield of 90 percent on the TPO bumpers its processes, according to Schreiber, who added that this material accounts for much ACI’s business. All metals clips and non-TPO components must be removed prior to downsizing the bumpers.…