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| With the continued volatility in the raw materials sector, rising energy costs, plus the global need and desire to protect our planet Adpol has decided to bring forward the launch of what we understand to be the first recycled Silicone Rubber alternative for moulded, extruded and stamped gasket products.
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After almost 2 years of development work we are now able to offer products manufactured from scrap and waste Silicone Rubber, in different base hardnesses, colours and with technical analysis to demonstrate how the technical properties of Silicrumb are very similar to the original grades.
The crumb we use comes from scrap silicone that would otherwise end up in landfill, along with hundreds of tons of similar Silicone Rubber products that then remain there for thousands of years. We want to lead the industry and start reversing this trend and begin introducing recycled silicone rubber products into mainstream manufacturing. To do this we need your help!
Silicone mouldings can be manufactured almost as a like for like replacement for existing products, with smooth sides and amazing colour blends contained within the compound. The photos below give you a good idea of this.
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Extruded products are slightly more complex, with the current surface finish being rough (per the crumb used). This does offer a typically grippy surface, and one that from a design point of view is incredibly eye catching. For certain applications and larger extrusions this will be ideal, and we are still developing a much finer crumb mix which longer term will enable us to extrude smoother, and thinner section products.
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| So why try it?
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You, your company, and your customers will be directly contributing to long term protection of our environment, keeping silicone waste out of landfill, cutting energy used in its manufacture, global transportation and raw material extraction along with associated land damage.
We, all of us as manufacturers will start reducing dependence on an ever shrinking pool of raw material suppliers.
In current climates this offers great marketing opportunities. The value of using recycled products in manufacture to our customers is growing all the time. Many of us have environmental standards to meet, percentage targets or recycled raw materials in end products too.
The visual and physical properties of Silicrumb are quite striking, and from a design point of view in Silicone a first.
We can start a new trend in 360° recycling. Silicone Rubber can be ground up and re-used repeatedly. We already have a number of companies wanting to send us scrap Silicone to recycle. We just need your products to make to carry through to fruition.
We are asking if you can give some serious thought to where you can switch across or market out Silicrumb products. We understand that not all applications will be suitable to easily make this switch, but many will. In Silicrumb we cannot currently offer batch traceability, flammability, food drink or water certification, and very fine/thin applications especially extrusions may not work. But larger profiles and mouldings will be fine, the temperature, stretch, elongation, compression, weathering, mould, mildew and UV Ozone resistance properties of Silicone will not be significantly affected.
If you would like a few samples, product data sheets, or to discuss suitability of Silicrumb for your applications please do get in touch. We really want to make this work and start a new trend in recycling yet another (pretty indestructible) raw material to massively reduce the environmental footprint it leaves behind.
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| Further information can be found on our
website
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