Freegard: ‘What better time than now to buy British polymers’

United Kingdom – UK-based 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 construction and automotive sectors.

Recovered from the non-metallic waste fraction of end-of-life vehicles, the Axpoly r-ABS resins are claimed to deliver a carbon footprint saving of two-thirds when compared with virgin ABS made from petrochemical feedstocks.

A full life-cycle analysis of Axion’s mechanical recycling process shows a saving of 2.1 tonnes CO2 equivalent for every tonne of ABS the company produces – equal, it adds, to the CO2 impact of driving a 44-tonne articulated road haulage vehicle some 1400 miles (2240 km). 

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.

According to Axion Polymers’ managing director Keith Freegard, some of the firm’s competitors are increasing their prices owing to post-Brexit exchange rate changes.

‘Anyone purchasing polymer from Central Europe will be facing around a 15% price increase,’ he says. ‘Manufactured from feedstocks collected in Britain, our polymers are not affected by exchange rate changes. What better time than now to buy British.’

Axion Polymers’ recycled plastics are mechanically separated at its Shredder Waste Advanced Processing Plant (SWAPP) in Manchester and then further refined at its Salford polymer compounding site.