Volvo Cars seized on AnVa Polytech’s unique environmental rubber

AnVa Polytech’s environmental rubber made no less a company than Volvo Cars prick up its ears. Today the two companies are successfully cooperating – which was made clear at Elmia Subcontractor.

In November 2015 the Swedish company AnVa Polytech launched its environmental rubber compound, which significantly reduces both carbon dioxide emissions and oil requirements. The material is made of recycled carbon black from scrap tires and waste rubber from the company’s own factory. The development work was done in close and intensive cooperation with Scandinavian Enviro Systems.

AnVa Polytech took a chance and presented its environmental rubber to the global corporation Volvo Cars. The gamble succeeded. The interest turned out to be mutual and in January 2016 Volvo Cars approved the use of the environmental rubber in the chassis plugs being supplied by AnVa Polytech.

“We converted the product and now it’s being used in all of Volvo’s newer car models,” explains Axel Edh, environmental strategist at Volvo Cars. “Each car contains between 35 and 70 chassis plugs from AnVa Polytech. We believe the environmental rubber has a lot more development potential and that it can be used in more products. That will allow us to further expand the product range.”

Together with Jan Bäckström, sales and marketing manager at AnVa Polytech, Edh gave a presentation on the main stage of Hall D on Wednesday morning. The two men described the path leading to their successful collaboration and also discussed important issues for the future.

“When we developed the environmental rubber it involved a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” Bäckström explained. “We did masses of tests and worked for almost three years before we contacted Volvo Cars. But we were never close to giving up – the work always progressed. But it was certainly a project full of risks.”

The automotive industry is a critical customer for AnVa Polytech. In addition to the collaboration with Volvo, the company hopes to access more international car manufacturers in future.

“Just because Volvo is using the chassis plugs doesn’t mean we’re tied to them,” Bäckström says. “We have to continue making business deals and reach more customers. That’s why we must get out into the market and explain what we can do and present the advantages of our environmental rubber.”