UK recycling specialist Axion Polymers (Manchester / UK; www.axionpolymers.com) has launched a new line of strong and durable 100% recycled ABS grades suitable for injection moulding applications particularly in the construction and automotive sectors, offering both cost and carbon savings.

Recovered from end-of-life vehicles, the "Axpoly" rABS resins deliver a carbon footprint saving of two-thirds when compared with virgin ABS made from petrochemical feedstocks. Axion said the saving is 2.1 t CO₂ equivalent for every tonne of ABS produced. Another 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 oil market, the company said.

Axion director Keith Freegard said some of Axion's competitors were raising prices due to post-Brexit currency changes. “Anyone purchasing polymer from central Europe will be facing around a 15% price increase. Manufactured from feedstocks collected in Britain, our polymers are not affected by exchange rate changes. What better time than now to buy British!” he said.

The Axpoly plastics are mechanically separated at the Manchester factory and then refined at the Salford site. Product development technologist Mark Keenan said Axpoly enables manufacturers to build products or automotive components at a lower cost than using virgin polymers. “Our new rABS polymers are ideal for compression load applications and have recently been used to mould load plates for reinforced steel beams as well as strengtheners in the corners of windows," he said.

Properties of the standard recycled ABS grade "Axpoly r-ABS52 1009" can be tailored to meet customer specifications.