Sinclair & Rush UK are working with Horizon Polymers, a dynamic brokerage for the Recycled Plastics industry that deliver first class customer service, and have an extensive worldwide list of connections for buying and selling all types of plastic polymers. Working with plastic comes with its difficulties especially now; when it is more important than ever to be as economical as possible. This is why we strive to recycle as much of our plastic waste as possible and working with Horizon Polymers means we can do this effectively. Change starts within and it begins by taking responsibility for what we can, if we can recycle our waste and use recycled materials, we are supporting our planet in the best possible way that we can.
Horizon Polymers originated from a family business. James Burgess, the now Director is incredibly personable and passionate about the business. In recent years the company has developed from recycling not just PVC but most other plastics like Nylon and LDPE. James' Grandad began in the industry many moons ago and James has since taken over when his Grandad retired and set up Horizon Polymers. He offers a fresh approach to the world of recycled plastics.
A quote we wanted to share said by James is “One man’s waste is another mans gold”. He feels strongly about re-using waste as items always have more than one use, and it is wonderful if we can stop waste filling up landfills and destroying our planet.
Upon a meeting with Ellie - Marketing at Sinclair & Rush and James Director of Horizon Polymers, they delved in deeper about the process once the waste leaves us and gets to them. We wanted to learn about that journey and the end result of our plastic waste.
Firstly, as there are so many different types of plastic, the process of granulating differs depending on which polymer waste there is. But in a nut shell, Horizon takes our waste material to the correct granulating business, they grind it down and give it back to Horizon who then sells it on to a company who uses recycled polymers for their products / business. Each type of plastic such as PVC, Nylon or LDPE are very different in terms of their properties and they melt at different temperatures so cannot be used for the same purpose as they would have a different finish.
Check out this video for how the plastic gets grinded down!
The main application for the PVC recycled waste is hose pipes used domestically and industrially. Also, street furniture such as cone bases and road barrier bases. They use cable regrind as a cheap filler but our high-quality PVC is used as the base material. It is a popular product made from grinded down PVC.
Another common product produced from recycled PVC is Hazmat Boots, they are made from the process injection moulding.
Also our PVC material has also been used to make a ‘reprocessed PVC compounds’ or pellets (which is the end product, see photos). Here our material is used as feedstock to create the pellets.
In some cases, these materials can be used for playground surfaces.
Next, the LDPE we sell to the Plastic Brokerage goes into sound insulation and vibration damping sheets. The material goes through a calendaring extrusion line and essentially the material is pressed between 2 rollers to create the sheet, which is used in trains, buildings and factories.
And lastly, Nylon 6 is recycled into gears and bearings through an injection moulder, the material is typically blended in small doses with their virgin material, which makes the process much cheaper.
The benefit to using recycled plastic is huge, it’s better for the environment as it is less harsh to reuse plastic and there is a significant cost saver to this also.
One thing to remember with recycling plastic is that it is incredibly important to segregate the waste and not mix it all together. For example, if there is metal, within the Dip Moulded waste, this can have catastrophic consequences to the machines being used to grind down the plastic. These machines reduce the scrap to 4mm chip size and if this hits metal that shouldn’t be in there, it has a very expensive outcome as machines then need replacing and similarly it essentially contaminates the plastic that was being recycled. We hear all the time about consumers not separating their waste out effectively but once it is out of sight, it is out of mind! The consequences are that it makes it a lot harder and sometimes impossible to recycle due to the contamination. All of us, business and consumer, need to help the process by segregating the waste properly.
On the British Plastics Manufacturing website, according to Brigitte Dero VinylPlus Managing Director says: "PVC is a building block of our modern societies: it is a versatile, durable and highly recyclable polymer, widely used in various applications, including building and construction, energy production, agriculture, and healthcare. It plays a significant role in enabling the EU Green Deal, and the industry’s commitment to increase its recycling rate contributes to the EU circular economy” VinylPlus is the European PVC industry’s commitment to sustainable development
In this year’s trading Horizon Polymers has recycled over 1000 tons of plastic and 44 tons of that is from us at Sinclair & Rush, all of our waste has then been sold on to other UK based manufacturer for their goods. Partnering with James at Horizon Polymers has been a fantastic move for Sinclair & Rush. We truly believe in assisting in the solution to the waste issue in the world (especially being a plastics company). Similarly, we listen to the advice of the professionals about how to distribute our waste correctly and effectively to have maximum benefit on the environment.
"It is refreshing to work with Sinclair & Rush, a company who’s so willing to go the extra mile to help recycle their waste streams" - James at Horizon.
To view Horizon Polymers website CLICK HERE
