The company, currently celebrating its 50th year, is known for wheeled bin recycling at its facility in Louth. Luxus also develops specialised prime plastic compounds from prime feedstocks.
With the help of funding from the EU, the firm is now aiming to commercialise its ‘Hycolene’ range of lightweight polypropylene compounds, which will be used for producing ‘interior trim’ for vehicles by European car manufacturers.
Luxus has developed the lightweight PP range, which is made up of 60% recycled content and is carrying out testing on the product alongside twin screw manufacturer Coperion and Jaguar Land Rover. The auto manufacturer will be providing end user guidance on the project to ensure the technical requirements of the car industry are met, allowing exploitation of this technology in future auto applications across the industry.
According to Luxus a barrier to the rollout of the scheme until now has been scaling up the production of the Hycolene grades through existing infrastructure.
Investment
As a result of the investment, the firm claims that it has been able to purchase a new twin screw co-rotating extruder which will help it meet the material specifications demanded by end users.
Luxus managing director Peter Atterby, said: “We’re pleased that the commercial potential of our Hycolene range has been recognised by the EU. This investment will enable us to effectively make a fundamental step change in our technology as we aim to replace our filled components with next generation reinforcing additives.
“These additives offer excellent tensile properties that don’t detract from the appearance of the moulded compound, yet their adoption reduces weight by up to 12% per part and significantly improves scratch resistance to meet industry standards.
“The new grades will also offer a lower density than is currently provided, while still delivering up to 60% recycled PP. The result of all this is that tier 1 moulding supplies will be able to produce more parts per tonne of the mineral as they will benefit from a much faster cycle time. This will offset the slightly higher price these new advanced grades will require.”
Luxus aims to gain a 2% share of the EU interior trim market by 2016 and is preparing a patent application for the new polymer technology process.
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