Evonik, Remondis in polyurethane recycling tie-up

Market: Petrochemicals
15/09/23

German waste management firm Remondis has agreed to supply German chemical company Evonik with a stream of polyurethane waste feedstock for its chemical recycling ambitions.

Evonik is currently testing a hydrolysis process for recycling used polyurethane mattress film at its Hanau, Germany site, producing recycled feedstocks for production of new polyurethane resins. The company has a partnership to supply feedstock to polyurethane foam producer Vita Group, which it said has "demonstrated that Evonik's hydrolysis process recovers raw materials of significantly higher quality… compared with previous recycling technologies". It plans as a next step to build a larger demonstration-scale recycling plant.

Remondis will sort out polyurethane foams from the waste that it collects and supply this to Evonik. Initially the project will focus on the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany.

The companies estimate that more than 250,000 t/yr of polyurethane foam from waste mattresses is currently being sent to landfill or incineration in Europe.

By Will Collins

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