Pilot for chemical recycling of PU launched after Covestro’s lab success
Polymer manufacturer Covestro has said innovative technologies for chemical recycling will be “the only way to recycle plastic waste on a truly relevant scale and with real greenhouse gas savings”.
It said it wants to be a pioneer in developing and using these innovative recycling technologies.
An initial project involves the chemical recycling of flexible polyurethane foam from mattresses.
Covestro has worked with partners to develop a technology that enables the important raw materials to be recovered from old mattresses for reuse in new mattresses.
In principle, the company said, it should be possible to recycle the polyurethane as many times as desired.
After successful laboratory tests on its chemical recycling innovation, Covestro recently began operating a pilot plant for this project. Together with partners, it has also developed software for sorting waste from used mattresses.
