Ultra-Poly develops bumper recycling program

Portland, Pennsylvania-based plastics recycler Ultra-Poly has launched an automotive bumper recycling program, which involves the collection and reprocessing of damaged bumpers into a new raw material. 

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Ultra-Poly collaborated with automotive supplier Autoneum North America Inc., Novi, Michigan, to develop a product that uses the recycled bumper material as a rigid backing substrate for a fibrous layer, creating a composite used in vibration and noise attenuation in a chassis component. The material is listed in the International Material Data System (IMDS). 

The company says it saw potential for recovered fascia in polypropylene (PP) compounds and nonappearance applications in the automotive market after participating in the Plastics Industry Association’s End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Recycling Project. 

Ultra-Poly collects used bumper covers directly from autobody shops where they have been removed from vehicles and stripped of any usable connected components. 

"This is a groundbreaking program that will help advance the automotive industry closer to achieving the standards of a circular economy," says Kevin Cronin, Ultra-Poly vice president of sustainability and R&D. "Sustainability is in the DNA of Ultra-Poly. Our commitment and expertise in improving the sustainability of the plastics industry is evident throughout our business model, and we look forward to all that we can achieve with this innovative program." 

"With the increasing challenge of OEM's [original equipment manufacturer's] to require more and more recycled content, this product delivers on that challenge, enabling us to become more sustainable as a company by reducing our carbon footprint and engineering a product from the ground up with End of Life recycling in mind to ultimately reach the end goal of a circular economy,” says Dan Moler, Autoneum North America vice president of product development and engineering. “Everyone benefits; body shops, recyclers, automotive part manufacturers, OEMs and, most importantly, the environment." 

Ultra-Poly says it is committed to delivering the best-in-class recycled resin and compounds for customers to help them meet sustainability goals and increase efficiencies. The company supplies materials to injection molding, film and profile extrusion clients in various industries, including building products, housewares, automotive and oil and gas. With five locations in Pennsylvania, Ultra-Poly produces custom compounded PP and polyethylene (PE) resins from recycled plastics and provides toll reprocessing services for plant-generated scrap in several different industries.