Recycled plastics: the eco-savvy product designer’s choice

The wide variety of innovative and sustainable recycled polymers produced in the UK make
it easier than ever for branded OEMs to ‘go green’ with new product design. Sophie Thomas,
Director of Design RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and
Commerce) examines how and why this material choice delivers a range of environmental
and sustainable benefits for designers, manufacturers and their customers alike.

Increasingly, consumers are making purchasing decisions based on a product’s sustainable
credentials. Does it contain recycled content? Can it be recycled and reused again at end of
life? What is its carbon impact?

Recognising this growing environmental awareness among their customers, many major
manufacturers are responding by incorporating ethical principles into their production
processes and using this ‘added value’ to promote their brands and build customer loyalty.

Increased use of recycled materials features heavily in the Corporate Social Responsibility
programmes of major companies such as retailers, brand owners, car manufacturers and
construction companies. There is a growing desire to attach a recycling story to products
and increasingly there is a commercial advantage to manufacture products that are made
from recycled material or incorporate some recycled content.

This presents a clear opportunity for manufacturers, brand owners and retailers to engage
with the plastics industry to deliver these aspirations. Top brands understand the mix of
criteria that their customers think are important in their personal choices and purchasing
decisions. Coca Cola is a prime example. The soft drinks giant builds brand credibility by 
incorporating the sustainability story into its products. It uses a minimum of 25% recycled
polyethylene (rPET) in all its plastic bottles in Great Britain.

Today’s purchasers are more eco conscious and products that contain recycled content have
strong consumer appeal. Generally people want to ‘do their bit’ for the environment and
tend to trust brands and retailers that can offer a quality ‘cool green’ product.
This opens up opportunities for environmentally aware product designers to offer clients
novel recycled content options that help to address the new ‘green consumers’ and add
value to branded products. Increasing product appeal through sustainably sourced materials
can ultimately lead to higher sales.

So why should designers incorporate recycled plastic content into new products and what
are the benefits? With the concept of a circular economy gaining ground, recycling is going
to become an increasingly important consideration. Allied to this, significant improvements
have been made in the UK by local authorities, the recycling industry and the wider supply
chain towards achieving a circular economy for plastics and reusing these valuable
resources.

Raw material scarcity is an important consideration and recycling existing polymers ensures
a sustainable and consistent supply for the future, reducing the reliance on dwindling virgin
materials. It is also a low-carbon choice. Typically recycled polymers have about 50% to
75% of the carbon impact compared to taking oil out of the ground and making a virgin
polymer - depending on the virgin polymer types.

The high quality of recycled polymers and their greater availability ensures a reliable and
sustainable supply of locally-sourced recovered materials - a viable alternative to virgin
materials and the more environmental choice for new plastic goods.

End users that enter into a long-term supply agreement with an integrated recycling
business, such as those in the end-of-life vehicle or construction products sectors, can
benefit from a reliable local feedstock. This shorter, lower risk supply chain from UK-based
recyclate suppliers makes future production planning easier.

Another advantage of using recycled plastics in durable goods concerns multiple re-use.
Design for recyclability is crucial. If the component design is right, plastics can be recycled
many times through a well-structured end of life re-supply chain. PVC-U windows, pipes and
building products are great examples.

Designers need to understand the design principles that enable the efficient release and
recovery of materials during the recycling process. Equally, they should recognise the ‘black
marks’ that apply to poorly designed products and wrong combinations of materials. Many
everyday products have simple design-for-recycling guides, created by recyclers, which
explain the ‘dos and don’ts’ of good design for recyclability.

Recycled plastics can be used in many innovative applications and manufacturers are using
them effectively in engineering products across diverse sectors from car components to
vacuum cleaners. Here are some key examples:

MBA Polymers & Electrolux Ultra Silencer Green vacuum cleaner

With their goal of ‘targeting sustainability leadership in the appliance industry’, Electrolux teamed up with global post-consumer plastics specialist MBA Polymers to source sustainable supplies of recycled plastics for the vacuum’s components.

The result is a product whose green credentials cannot be questioned. Electrolux's Ultra
Silencer vacuum is made from 55% recycled polypropylene (PP), saving over two litres of
crude oil and 80 litres of water per unit, as well as reducing manufacturing energy
consumption by 90%. It is durable too: all products are developed to withstand ten years of
normal usage.

According to Electrolux, if all of the 20 million vacuum cleaners that are sold annually in
Europe were built in the same way, 1.6 million cubic metres of water, and 251,000 barrels
of oil could be saved.

Cecilia Nord, the director responsible for sourcing at Electrolux, extended her approach
beyond simply exploring where they could incorporate post-consumer plastics in the
business’s supply chain; she wanted to spark dialogue too. She says: “Our vision was to
raise awareness of environmental issues, stimulate greater supply of plastics and show their
potential use, and to boost the distribution and sales of green home appliance products.”

Their efforts are paying off. In the Nordic countries where the first Green product was
launched in 2008, the range has continued to climb. Green models represented 13% of the
total volume and 17% of the sold value in 2015. In New Zealand, the Green models
represent 30% of sales.

Axion Polymers & BMW Mini air vent

Axion Polymers’ recycled plastics derived from end-of-life vehicles are used to make new automotive-related products in an excellent example of the circular economy ‘in action’.

Axpoly r-PP51, a black polypropylene (PP), is used to make the BMW Mini air vent that controls air entry and exit/pressure in the cabin. The polymer is also used in wider manufacturing industries, including water treatment, horticulture and retail goods.

Axion delivers a quality-assured polymer, on time, and to the required specifications having
used its own extensive in-house technical expertise to recover and refine recycled materials
from end-of-life vehicle shredder residue, providing a consistent product from a guaranteed
feedstock supply.

Axion Polymers Director Keith Freegard says: “Creating new manufactured products using
materials resources that are ‘mined’ from closed-loop recycling routes provides a novel and
environmentally responsible approach for vehicle producers that is both sustainable in the
long term and also lower cost.”

VEKA Recycling - PVC-U windows into new windows and construction products

VEKA Recycling processes post-industrial and post-consumer PVC window frame material

to a high standard of purity at its Kent site. The finished products - 100% recycled PVC pellet and micronised (pulver) are suitable for a wide range of manufacturing and extruded plastic goods, from building, roofline and cabling/ducting products to new windows.PVC is a versatile material that can be readily recycled many times with no loss of performance, making it an ideal choice for use in building products with green credentials.

VEKA Recycling Commercial Director Simon Scholes says: “Recycled PVC offers clear
advantages of reliable consistent supply and, of course, improves the environmental 
credentials of manufacturers’ products. In releasing the reliance on virgin polymers, we are
giving longer life to plastic.”

VEKA Recycling, an accredited Recovinyl recycler, is part of the VEKA Recycling Group,
which has more than 20 years’ PVC recycling experience with processing facilities in three
European countries.

Luxus - automotive interior trims

Technical plastics recycler Luxus is developing a range of polypropylene (PP) compounds with up to 60% recycled content, aimed at Europe’s Class ‘A’ automotive interior trim market.

Hycolene™ is a faster cycling range of scratch resistant, lightweight (PP) compounds that
help deliver improved Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The range is being developed to help
satisfy both end-of-life vehicle (ELV) and emissions targets.

Recent trials concentrated on the following criteria: scratch resistance, weight savings,
appearance and cycle time. The Hycolene™16818 achieved a substantial weight saving of
up to 4.2% against the market’s current lightweight benchmark material. It also delivered
improved colour, diminished weld lines and a rapid cycle time for reduced energy usage.

Luxus, a key supplier to the major names in the global auto industry, has been developing
high performance compounds for this sector for the last 15 years and the Hycolene™ range
is its very latest innovation. It was the first and is one of a select few UK businesses to
achieve approval for its recycled grades auto interior trims.

Terry Burton, Luxus Technical Manager says: “The great appeal of Hycolene™ is that it
allows manufacturers to satisfy environmental goals thanks to its recycled content (up to
60%) without sacrificing performance – delivering a lighter, stronger and, critically, a high
scratch-resistant finish.”

Modern design and manufacturing is moving away from the traditional linear model of ‘take,
make and dispose’ towards the circular flow of materials. Recycled plastics are a key part of
the drive towards sustainable product design and the transition to a circular economy.
Designers and specifiers of materials have a key role to play in breaking the linear model by
challenging the ‘norms and ingrained habits’ and forcing the material supply chain to link up 
the circular loop and tap into the ready and growing supply of sustainable polymers coming
from the innovative waste reprocessing sector.

Designers keen to embrace these sustainable values when developing new products can
access a growing range of materials that are readily available as good quality recyclate. A
great place to start sourcing recycled materials is with the many plastics recycling companies
listed within the BPF’s Members Directory.