Re-user friendly

A UK team claims to have perfected a new method of producing polypropylene vehicle components that are strong, lightweight and easy to recycle.

Researchers on the Recycle project, including Warwick University, Lotus Engineering and London Taxis International, have developed a technique for moulding, joining and finishing self-reinforced polypropylene (SrPP), which is claimed to be up to six times stronger than the standard form of the polymer.

The partners said the breakthrough could have major benefits for car manufacturers’ ability to meet tough new environmental regulations on materials recycling. The EU’s End of Life Vehicles Directive stipulates that by 2006, 80 per cent of a car’s bodyweight must be either reusable or recyclable, with that proportion rising further over the next decade.

Standard polypropylene is not strong enough for use in car manufacture, and normally has to be reinforced with glass fibre, carbon fibre or natural materials such as hemp or flax. But the reinforcing process renders polypropylene expensive and difficult to recycle.