Covestro says investment boosts polyurethane recycling

Germany-based polymer producer Covestro said it was working to "fully engage circularity and help make it a global guiding principle" as it develops technologies to reuse plastics and put them back into the value cycle, "usually It's about working closely with partne.

A new collaboration between Covestro and the Swiss manufacturer of backpacks and messenger bags, Freitag AG, targets the "infinite recycling of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)-based truck tarpaulin.

Covestro said that so far it has focused on obtaining materials through well-established mechanical recycli.

Covestro, which calls mechanical recycling "particularly suitable for polycarbonate," says that many of Covestro's corresponding products are already on the market, including polycarbonate blends for IT applications with up to 75 percent recycled materi.

"Furthermore, new plastic products are designed from the outset to be easier to recycle after their useful life," the company sa.

A consortium of industry partners in the Recycled Foam project is working on chemical recycling processes for rigid polyurethane foam, and according to Covestro, it is directing the wo.

Polyurethane (PU) and other thermosets are difficult to recycle mechanically, according to Covestro, which calls chemical processes the "obvious choice" for polyuretha.

These materials, polyol and isocyanate TDI, are used to produce mattress fo.

Covestro is working with Interseroh, a recycling company owned by the Alba Group, to develop the collection and processing of recyclables so that they can eventually be offered to Covestro for chemical recycli.

The recycling foam research project consists of 22 industrial partners from 9 countries and is coordinated by Covest.

The company estimates that recycling foam efforts have the potential to divert as much as 1 million tonnes of waste a year in Europe for recycli.