UK – As business development manager, Jim Ballantyne spent 15 years with the plastics compounder and recycler, including ten years bearing sole responsibility for this function before the sales team expanded. He joined Luxus from a plastics closure business.
Ballantyne helped Luxus to enter a new phase, moving from the supply of entry-level black grades to the development of sustainable thermoplastics for automotive components with a class-A finish. “We quickly moved from offering colour-matched polymer compounds for low-level, visible interior applications to upper-cabin, visible interior applications,” explained Ballantyne. “The challenge was to convince the client that compounds with recycled polymer didn’t mean a problematic product.”
He believes that globalisation will be the greatest change to the industry: “A reducing pool of both suppliers and manufacturers means materials specifications are now adopted on a global, not local scale. Automakers can pick up and drop production lines regardless of location.”
According to Ballantyne, knowledge transfer is the way forward, as exemplified by the licensing of Luxus’ lightweight Hycolene technology to selected European compounders. “This means Luxus will be well placed to offer a truly global materials supply solution,” he stated.
