Kraiburg TPE is expanding its portfolio to provide the automotive industry with cost-effective, more sustainable material choices. The company has developed a range of post-industrial recycled TPE grades with a recycling content of up to 38%, depending on hardness, which can be either combined with polypropylene in co-injection moulding applications or used as single soft component solution.
The post-industrial recycled raw material used is waste material derived from other companies’ manufacturing processes for plastic products. Kraiburg TPE uses it to produce product solutions for sustainable automotive interior applications. Possible applications include anti-slip mats, floor mats, soft components in cup holders, as well as fixation elements. The series is also suitable for other applications requiring a hardness range between 60 and 90 Shore A.
The new products fulfil all prevailing, strict OEM requirements for emission and odour. In addition, Interior PIR TPE provides good abrasion resistance and flowability combined with low density to keep the part weight at a minimum.
As a further benefit, Kraiburg TPE can now also provide the product carbon footprint of compounds for many products. This can lead to a decisive competitive advantage for customers and is part of the TPE manufacturer’s service package. The PCF quantifies the CO2e-footprint – in this case within the system boundaries cradle-to-gate. The global warming potential (GWP) of a product is calculated, indicating how much the product contributes to global warming from raw material extraction to the product manufacturer’s gate. Producers require this value to assess the carbon footprint of their components, and ultimately of the whole vehicle.
Kraiburg TPE claims full transparency in assessing the PCF and calculates the values according to DIN EN ISO 14067 and DIN EN ISO 14044, following the GHG Protocol.
The new portfolio is available to customers in the EMEA sales region. The company is currently working on local solutions for the APAC markets and North America.