Sustainable engineering plastics for classic applications in measurement and control technology

The year is 1985: In the USA, President Ronald Reagan is running for his second term in office; in England, Boris Becker is the youngest player ever to win the Wimbledon tennis tournament; in Hamburg - Germany's second-largest city - Lehmann&Voss&Co has recently started producing and selling "high-performance compounds"; and the subject of recycling is increasingly making its way into everyday life.

More and more municipalities in Germany have recently started to install wastepaper containers in addition to the then still young waste glass containers; more and more people are including terms such as "resource conservation," "secondary raw materials," "value chain" or even "recycling" in their everyday vocabulary.

No one yet suspects that in a few years Reagan will shout to the then Soviet president in Berlin: "Mr. Gorbachev - tear down that wall!"; that Boris Becker will win Wimbledon two more times, or that the topics of recycling and sustainability will become the megatrend of neo-ecology or central economic factors that will influence all business spheres. But as we all know, that should change soon ...

Today, we are in the midst of a transformation. Toward a new kind of consumption, toward an intelligent and sustainable use of resources. Recycling has become a decisive innovation driver and success factor in the production value chain.

A good example of how technical compounds can also become such a success factor is the story of the LEHVOSS polymer recyclate "LUVOTECH^® eco PC/ABS", which is used to manufacture housings in the field of measurement technology. More precisely: for the production of the water meter iPERL of the company Sensus..

Benefits: What does the polymer recyclate do?

The highlight of the whole thing is the "eco" in the name. Behind these three letters and two syllables lies an outstanding feature: the reduction of the CO2 footprint by up to 50 percent in this case. LUVOTECH eco PC/ABS thus makes a significant contribution to sustainability and can be used for all applications in which virgin PC/ABS has been used to date without any critical loss of performance.

This means in detail:

• The technological performance of the LEHVOSS eco material meets the demanding technical requirements and provides the necessary rheological properties for the consistent production of high-quality components.

Core activity: How does this PC/ABS material do it?

Behind this is the LEHVOSS ecX technology (eco compounding eXperience). The ecX technology stands for ecologically sustainable materials of the highest quality. This enables competitive solutions to be realized for all PC/ABS-relevant application areas. Solutions that can demonstrate a significantly improved carbon footprint or a reduced overall environmental impact.

This means in detail:

• Only property-specified raw materials from certified and audited suppliers with a qualified sorting process are used for the production of the LUVOTECH^® eco product line.
• The grinding plant has a range of specialized equipment for crushing and grinding, which is used in addition to visual material inspection. These include integrated metal detectors, dust extractors, and sorting equipment.

Core competence: Who is behind it??

Die LEHVOSS Group from Hamburg with its wholly owned subsidiary WMK Plastics from Solingen, where the grinding plant is also located. Here, 35 years of development know-how and process expertise come together under one roof.

Cover:

iPERL water ^®meter housing from Sensus made of LEHVOSS polymer recyclate "LUVOTECH^® eco PC/ABS (black housing part) with an expected service life of 15 years.