MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik is working with polyurethane (PU) specialist The Vita Group to develop a recycling process to convert foams from used mattresses back to the polyol raw material, said the company.
The hydrolysis recycling processes developed by the partnership will enable used flexible PU foams and mattresses to be recycled and used in different applications.
The European association of flexible polyurethane foam blocks manufacturers (EUROPUR) stated that 40m mattresses are discarded each year in Europe alone, the majority of which end up in landfill, creating the equivalent of 600,000 tonnes of waste, including more than 300,000 tonnes of PU foam.
Evonik’s technology will reduce PU waste while increasing the use of renewable raw materials, closing the loop to support the circular economy, and reducing the number of mattresses that are incinerated or sent to landfill each year.
The Vita Group currently recycles and rebonds more than 30,000 tonnes/year of trim as part of its sustainability practices.
This builds on Evonik's recent inauguration of its PU additives site in Essen, which is focusing on sustainable production.
As MRC informed earlier, in February, 2020, Dow and Evonik entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
Evonik Industries is one of the world's leading chemical companies in the promising areas of specialty chemistry. The company's products are focused on the high growth rates of megatrends, especially healthcare, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization.
MRC