PR 02 – New business helps the construction industry go green – 11 September 2007

New contracts that raise the awareness of recycling possibilities in the construction and timber building industries were announced by polymer solutions group Luxus at the RWM show NEC, 11 – 13th September 2007.

The company is involved in a WRAP research project to develop composite roofing slate manufactured from recycled tyres. Managed by Airport Business Centre, the research and development is focussing on the utilisation of ultra-fine crumb rubber derived from post consumer car tyres.

Utilising the resources of its technical centre and compounding facilities Luxus is combining the natural rubber with other recyclable materials to produce a suitable polymer that can be converted into a tile specifically for the UK building industry. Trials to date indicate that it should be feasible to use conventional plastics processing techniques to produce tiles that meet building specifications and are cost competitive with natural slate. Significant benefits including lightness, shatter resistance, durability as well as ease of fixing and aesthetic appeal will give the products considerable marketing edge.

Car underbody mouldings are also a potential application for polymers derived from tyre crumb. While the material benefits are similar to the slate application such products have the added appeal of offering a ‘closed loop’ system within the automotive sector.

Following a major rebranding exercise Morgan Ashfield is recycling much of its equipment including bright yellow plastic hard hats. The polypropylene headgear is being collected and converted into other construction products, notably the revolutionary Durakerb kerbstone. Luxus has been engaged to recycle the hats and provide fully specified polymer in granular form to Durakerb. Its service includes inspecting the hats for inclusions, chipping and blending the hard plastic and then testing the physical properties of the resultant material. The polymer is modified as necessary to meet the tough service conditions likely to be encountered by the end product. UV stability, wide temperature range, impact and abrasion resistance are critical for this application. Colourants are also added to produce a grey finish. Durakerb process the recycled polymer with other reclaimed polypropylene materials to produce lightweight products that conform to BS EN 1340 and meet HSE requirements for the safe handing of kerbstones.

Luxus has also announced a contract to supply specially formulated recycled polypropylene to Chess Plastics, a specialist injection moulding and engineered products company, who subsequently convert the material into a garden building base system marketed by Hawlock. Using its pool of recycled materials and materials laboratory Luxus developed a polymer to meet the exacting requirements of this application. Based on recycled polypropylene film grade, impact modifiers and mineral fillers were added to enhance physical properties to accommodate the shock and stress loads. Finally colour was included to meet the product specification.  Made from 100% recycled polypropylene the bases are lightweight, easy to handle and eliminate the need for concrete slabs.

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