Transport design engineers in the automotive industry are constantly searching for sustainable solutions that deliver high material performance, comfort, style, safety and fuel efficiency, at a competitive price.
Innovative plastics make an important contribution here. This is because components made from automotive plastic weigh only half as much as comparable parts made of other materials. Cars are becoming lighter and lighter as a result.
Today, parts made of plastic account for about 15% of the vehicle's weight. And the trend is still on the increase. Reducing weight increases fuel efficiency by up to 35% and cuts carbon emissions. At the same time, plastic parts also contribute to passenger safety.
Lightweight construction designs particularly feature injection molded parts made of polyamide (PA) and polypropylene (PE). These parts include:
The increased use of lightweight materials is also increasingly moving the focus to recycling these components. Production waste is generated during the production of automotive plastic. Using suitable recycling technology, this waste can be reprocessed and fed back into production.
The PURE LOOP ISEC evo is particularly suited to processing high volume parts. This type of automotive plastic recycling achieves refeeding quotas of up to 100% without sacrificing quality. The machine is easy to operate, flexible and can process a wide range of materials. It processes heavy, free-flowing, self-feeding, light, bulky and highly tear-resistant plastics. This is made possible by
The conical transition from the single shaft shredder to the extruder compacts the material, reduces oxygen and plasticizes the materials in the extruder. This efficient and controlled process path ensures gentle recycling of automotive plastic (especially polypropylene) and guarantees high recycled pellet quality.
Easy to operate
Flexible processing of high-volume parts
High quality of the end product
Recycling automotive plastic consisting of high-volume parts is often done by grinding instead of repelletizing. Although processing the material into recycled pellets has many advantages, grinding is cheaper and has been preferred up to now. However, this is not a good strategy.
Grinding produces a lot of dust. This means that when the regrind material is fed back into the injection molding machine, the dust is fed in as well. The dust sticks to the machine and overheats. Consequently, unsightly blemishes form on the surfaces of the recycled injection molded parts - a loss of quality that can be avoided by using the right recycling method.
In our blog article Comparison of technologies: repelletizing vs. grinding, we explain the advantages and disadvantages of both processing methods in more detail. Take a look right now!
AREXIM, an injection molding manufacturer, decided to implement an ISEC evo for recycling their production waste some years ago. Within a very short time, the PURE LOOP recycling machine proved to be the optimum choice. Its flexible processing capability, ease of operation and low maintenance requirements ensure high cost efficiency. It also achieves the goal of an almost waste-free production cycle.
In our article Efficient recycling in the production of injection moldings, you can learn more about automotive plastic recycling.
Thermoplastic composites such as organic sheets enable lightweight automotive construction in the circular economy. The focus is now on recycling waste material caused during the production process. ENGEL AUSTRIA GmbH proved during recycling tests in cooperation with PURE LOOP that the material properties were retained when organic sheet trim remnants were repelletized. This means that 100% of the recycled pellets can be fed back into the injection molding process.
You can read more about this in our article Using recycled pellets from organic sheet trimmings in injection molding.