The major U.S. plastics recycler, Ultra-Poly, announced this new recycling process which involves taking the damaged auto bumpers and turning them into raw material. This raw material is then turned into pellets which are then used to create new parts.

The process was described by Kevin Cronin, Ultra-Poly’s vice president of sustainability and R&D, told Repairer Driven News, “Regarding our process, the fascia are fed into a large dual shaft shredder that completely tears them into irregular-shaped pieces which then go through another shaft shredder that further reduces the pieces to roughly two inches in size. That material is then finally sent to a high-speed grinder where it is further reduced to approximately three-quarter-of-an inch size or what is termed ‘regrind.’ The regrind then goes to an extruder where it is melted, filtered, and pelletized. Throughout the process, there are several steps where metal and other contaminants that may be present are removed.”

Cronin also mentioned that the plan for the parts will be to create a wheel well liner for GM heavy duty pickup trucks. “This recycled material has excellent mechanical and processing characteristics and is applicable for many different applications in automotive and is already commercial in applications such as dunnage and other material handling components.”

Despite it becoming clear that the used fascia could not be refitted to the bumper of the car, Ultra-Poly moved around this issue and developed an innovative solution by adding the recycled fascia to the unseen body of the automotive so the material can still be put to use. Ultra-Poly also partnered with Autoneum North America Inc., a thermal and acoustic management vehicle solutions supplier, to ensure the process could be completed.

A report from the Plastics Industry Association, shows that the new upcycling scheme is an environmental improvement and is a much greener and sustainable approach, sparing an estimated 1 million pounds of waste being thrown out as waste.