The Fusion of....
High-performance lightweight recycled polypropylene
materials for tomorrow’s auto interiors
Dr Christel Croft, Project Manager, Luxus Ltd
The Recyclite project
The strength of the “Recyclite” Consortium :
Luxus is part of a consortium that
secured €1.4m of investment cofunded by the EU Eco-Innovation
initiative (Recyclite Project).
Luxus
Leading the project
Developed the HycoleneTM
range
Coperion
IAC
The aim of the Recyclite project is to
commercialise Luxus’ development of the
Hycolene™ range of lightweight
polypropylene (PP) compounds with up to
60% recycled content that targets Europe’s
Class ‘A’ automotive interior trim market
Providing technical support in
the compounding process to
deliver key economic and
environmental benefits.
A key injection moulding
company delivering verification
of process parameters.
JLR
Lead manufacturer who will
help deliver components made
from the rPP to the market .
Luxus – High performance PP for the automotive sector
Luxus’ recycled polypropylene compounds are already successfully used by key OEMs for various “A” surface
visually critical applications.
Luxus Ltd provides high volumes of PP recycled based materials for automotive exterior and interior trim
applications with:
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Specification agreement
Recycled feedstock analysis and selection
Material property enhancement
Colour matching
Pre production laboratory evaluation against specification
Blending batches up to 150t lots
PP for automotive interior
Class A
The new HycoleneTM range delivers additional benefits to the current offer of recycled based PP materials
such as lighter weight and increased scratch performance.
The history
Project initiated by Luxus Ltd to meet specific needs of the automotive sector.
Target : Highly functional, directly visible, colour
matched parts with low gloss, meeting the same
requirements as current materials with additional
benefits of lightweight and higher scratch
resistance.
Weight
Reduction
Material
performance
• Less material required
• Fuel economy
• CO2 emission reduction
• High scratch performance
• Visible parts applications
Key drivers:
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Legislation & Compliance
Sustainability and Environmental Performance
Customer engagement & Corporate Social
Responsibility
Material Performance
Cost
Recycled
content
• High level of recyclate
• Legislation & competitive benefits
Key challenge: To increase OEMs & moulders
confidence in using recycled materials for
“Class A” interior trim applications in an
increasing competitive environment.
Key elements of the project
Technical objectives:
Commercial and Market objectives:
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Establish robust scratch testing and correlate with
results from various OEMs’ tests.
Perform performance tests on various virgin and new
recycled PP compounds and establish correlations or
trends between properties where possible.
Micro analysis of virgin and recycled material to
understand how surface scratches are formed, and
therefore, the observed visual characteristics.
Optimise Luxus’ new Coperion twin screw extruder to
scale up and increase performance of the HycoleneTM
formulations. Develop knowledge database of process
and additives effects on performance.
Prepare colour matched moulded test specimens for
full validation tests.
Complete a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for the project.
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Survey moulders & OEMs regarding in-cabin
performance specifications.
Perform assessment tests and validation of the
Hycolene TM range for defined applications.
Assess and communicate the environmental and
cost benefits performance on the commercially
produced material.
Develop licence agreements with partners for
producing and accessing the Hycolene TM range
globally.
Door pocket Example of a
potential future
application for the
HycoleneTM range
The achievements so far
Lab scale development demonstrated:
• Weight reduction
• Improved scratch performance
• Increased recycled content
645 g
568 g
12% weight reduction
Crosshatch 20x20 10N - Erichsen
Industry standard
Reference material: current PP 16407 for Class “A”
automotive interior trim. - 25% talc filled with a recycled
content.
The achievements so far
Properties - HycoleneTM - PP16624 versus PP16407
• Meeting mechanical properties
• Meeting dimensional requirements: Drop-in solution
Property
Melt flow
Izod at Room Temperature
notched
Izod at -40 C notched
Flexural Modulus
Density
Test Method
Units
PP16407
Reference
PP 16624
HycoleneTM
ISO 1133
g/10 mins
25 - 29
22 - 26
ISO 180: 1993
KJ/m²
4.5 - 7
4.5 - 7
ISO 180: 1993
KJ/m²
1.7 +
1.7 +
ISO 178
N/mm²
1450 - 1850
1600 - 2100
1+
0.96 - 0.985
%
23 - 26
8 - 11
°C
80 +
90 +
ISO 1183: 1987
Filler
HDT 0.45Mpa
ISO 75
The offer
For over 50 years Luxus Ltd has offered unique knowledge and capability to work with a range of
recycled feedstock to deliver products matching customer specifications with batch to batch
repeatability.
The new lightweight HycoleneTM range with increased scratch performance will be offered to
the market with the same ethos, working closely with customers to consistently supply the best
product at the best price.
For more information – visit www.recyclite.eu, visit our stand A5126 or contact Luxus on +44(0)1507 604941.
Acknowledgements
We would like to recognise the support and contribution of :
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The Eco-Innovation Initiative of the European Union.
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Our Partners and in particular :
– R. Crow, R. Punch, I. Lowe, W. Morris, C. Edwards, E. Davis (JLR)
– M. Walddoerfer, D. Watmore, J. Schofer (Coperion)
– D. Jenkins, P. Middleton (IAC)
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Our Technical, Business and Project team and in particular :
– T. Burton, G. Stephenson, L. Dalley, J. Ballantyne, A. Boyce, I. Pigot, I. Huskiewicz, P. Atterby, C. Barker,
S. Coggle.