ARPRO® reveals impressive carbon footprint results for recycled grade product
ARPRO Recycled, offers significant benefits in reducing global warming potential (GWP) with no impact on performance when compared to conventional ARPRO*.
An independent life-cycle evaluation into the material, carried out by Environmental Resources Management (ERM) focused on the differences in GWP potential during the production of conventional and recycled content ARPRO.
A comparison of the two materials found that the ‘carbon footprint’ (comparative CO2 GWP figure) of the production of 1kg of ARPRO Recycled is 2.79 kg CO2 (e), compared with 3.04 kg for the equivalent conventional ARPRO grade – a reduction in GWP of eight per cent for ARPRO Recycled. The results follow an independent life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted in 2008 into the production of an automotive seat core, where ARPRO was found to deliver an environmental benefit of twelve times that of its impact.**
Paul Compton, JSP President and Chief Executive Officer – Europe, Middle-East and Africa, explains: “In introducing ARPRO Recycled, we wanted to emphasise to customers the improved environmental performance was delivered at the same dynamic performance levels. The initial ARPRO LCA report in 2008 explained the major benefits of ARPRO as a product and its ability to deliver weight reductions of up to 35 per cent and so significant fuel reductions in use.
“This new study explores further environmental benefits by providing a greater understanding of the GWP associated with the production of ARPRO. It demonstrates a clear advantage for the recycled content product, which allows users to fulfil recycled-material strategies and still enjoy the same strength, durability and moulding characteristics.
ARPRO is a lightweight and versatile material that helps to reduce weight and energy consumption. ARPRO Recycled uses 15 per cent recycled ARPRO content and is the first recycled-content lightweight material of this type. ARPRO Recycled is ideal for automotive, packaging and heating & ventilation applications, where legislation and increasing customer demand for more recycled materials already exists.
For access to the ARPRO Life Cycle Assesment
For more details on ARPRO visit www.arpro.com.
*at equivalent moulded density
** ARPRO LCA results found that the CO2 reduction resulting from an example ARPRO seat core was 265kg CO2 (e) over a vehicle’s lifetime
