Wirral-based Sytex's director of operations Simon Calladine said that manufacturers, especially from the automotive sector, should look to increase their use of recycled plastics, where they meet the quality specifications.
He said: “Recycling within our industry has been going on for many years, but is often recycled into less demanding applications. For example, the sprues and rejected mouldings from an automotive application are being recycling into bus shelter seats or plant pots when they should be going back into an automotive application.”
Mr Calladine admitted that one of the biggest barriers for vehicle manufacturers using more recycled materials is the perception that they have a lower quality than virgin materials.
“A lot of suppliers think they know how to produce the material their customers want, but they often use the wrong additives, dyes or pigments, which could be why recycled material has suffered from such a poor reputation in the past,” he explained.
Automotive
Plastics recycler Sytex has said that it has received increased interest in its products over recent months from motor manufacturers in America, Europe and Japan. The company recycles about 500 tonnes a year of polycarbonate automotive scrap back into a nearly 100% recycled material that can be used by the sector.
Mr Calladine said that the End-of-Life Vehicle Directive should now encourage more recycled materials to be used by car companies. “We are being led by legislation, such as the ELV Directive, which is making these companies look into using more recycled materials. It is forcing them to go along that route,” he said.
The recent rises in oil prices have also started to affect the plastics market, Mr Calladine added, with more manufacturers looking to offset their rising material costs by using more recycled polymers.
Sytex also supplies material for companies producing computer housing, lighting and security systems.
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