Australian injection moulding solutions provider Holloway Group and Biax Foundations have teamed up to produce a concrete void filler product that’s lightweight, easy to freight and made from 100% recycled material.

Holloway Group is one of the few Australian-based plastic injection moulding companies that produce large goods. It’s managing director and owner Matthew Holloway saw the void filler product that was coming in from China and contacted the owner to see if they could do business.

“As a growing organisation, we are always looking for new opportunities to expand into new industries and to form new business partnerships,” Matthew explains.

“I read about Biax Foundations’ concrete void filler product in an article on LinkedIn and knew straight away that it was something we could manufacture.”

Up until that point, Biax Foundations was manufacturing their product in China and importing it into Australia. The freight costs and blown out lead times made this difficult to sustain.

The Biax system is a new product that provides a framework and fills a void for concrete slabs in the construction industry. Made from 100% recycled polypropylene, it is connected using the keystone clips that form a grid.

Matthew adds that the new system has several advantages over its polystyrene competitors including its compact nesting ability for freight and storage: “And it is not as lightweight so does not blow around on building sites. When the foam is cut on site it also ends up in waterways and waste streams and the Biax system eliminates this issue.

“Not only are we manufacturing the Biax product, but we’ve assisted with the improved design of the void filler and will be assisting with their supply chain and distribution. Our engineers and industrial designers assisted with a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and were able to simulate the product using CAD and produce real-time data. The second series design that will be supplied from Holloway Group is a much more innovative product, lighter and stronger than the incumbent design.”

The larger of the two moulds for the Biax solutions weighs 8t and is 1m by 1m by 900mm.

“That mould, which has just been commissioned, will be used in our largest injection moulding machine to produce the void fillers,” Matthew says.