feedstock: automotive
What is automotive plastic?
Automotive plastic is generally rich in Polystyrene (PS/HIPS) and ABS, with other polymers being PE and PP. Impact have dealt with a number of post automotive streams, where a mixed polyolefin has been taken from a sink float of automotive material.
This leaves behind a mixed polyolefin, with a roughly 60% PP and 40% PE.
It is important to note however that the automotive streams usually contain around 15% of filled PP, which has the same density range as the HDPE. This contaminates the PE stream and reduces the maximum purity attainable.
It is for this reason we recommend that the material is separated using a high purity PP setting. This produces a result whereby PP is separated into a 98% pure fraction at a high, injection mould quality PP, while the PE is left as a more mixed fraction (60/40), and combined with the filled PP.
Any sink material left behind is typically PS or ABS and can be also recovered as a sink fraction, adding more value to the separation.
BOSS output
BOSS will produce 3 streams from the automotive plastic material, comprising;
PP rich. This we recommend being run for highest purity, giving a 98% stream of high-grade PP, usually of injection mould quality. We would estimate that you will recover 50 – 60% of the stream in this fraction.
PE rich: This will be lower quality, mixed Polyolefin because of the high quantity of filled PP present.
Sink fraction: This should be small, assuming the material has already passed a sink float method. If it has not, this will be heavily contaminated with filled PP, ABS and PS among others.
summary
Post automotive material can be a high-value feedstock for BOSS, however, it is important you understand the effect that filled PP can have on the PE purity.