Sustainable Plastics - October 2021 - 26

Q&A
as well?
I think that, for the time being
we are the pioneers, but I think
that the industry is moving in
the same direction. Announcements
are popping up every
so often, which is a really good
thing.
I think our industry as a
whole, not just Dow, should
want to make polyurethanes
valuable at the end of their life.
It's important that we find solutions.
As
I said, this plant will be
Polyurethane foam
continued from page 25
learning what it means to operate
a recycling process and
what we need from each other.
But: it takes time.
What about the quality of the
polyols? You said it has to be
suitable for the application
that it's been produced for -
have you found that it's consistent?
I
won't go into too much
detail but let me say that even
when we produce conventional
polyols - virgin polyols - these
are tested every single time to
ensure they meet certain specifications.
Obviously, we've been
producing these for decades
and we know exactly how the
process works and how to produce
polyols with the desired
properties. We carry out the
same tests, to the same specifications,
on the RENUVA polyols.
And actually, they are very
similar in terms of ranges and
even some of the values to the
standard polyols.
Of course, there's much more
we need to do and to check.
The polyol needs to be REACH
compliant; we also have to
make sure for example that it
is compliant regarding the aromatic
amine content, as well as
whether the final product can
meet all the testing and requirements
that the foam makers are
used to.
In the end, our role is to make
sure the quality is consistent
and within the specification at
all times.
We've talked about the role of
26
October 2021
the partners in this project .
Partners are obviously needed
to set up a whole value
chain. Do you see this effort
going beyond mattresses in
the future?
I think the industry will have
to. If you look at polyurethanes
in general, they are in too many
applications not to.
The circular economy will
not be just about mattresses or
only about footwear, for example.
But again: it's one thing to
have the technology, it's another
to have a good infrastructure
around the waste in place.
Take refrigerators, for example.
They seem like a really
good place to start as they are
already being collected and dismantled.
The only issue there is
to separate the foam from everything
else - which seems to
be a challenge, although, if you
look at the structure of the foam
in these refrigerators, technically,
it's very similar - just rigid
polyurethane foam. The question
of course then becomes
how to collect it ? And how can
we clean it?
Footwear, too, is another
interesting one. The problem
there is that so many shoes are
made of a mix of different materials.
It makes recycling very
difficult.
So, what can we look forward
to with this project in the future?
Now
that the plant is operational,
the immediate future will
see the plant building up capacity
shortly. Our aim is to process
200,000 mattresses per year.
The first test batches of polyol
have been produced and VITA
have produced the first foam
made using RENUVA polyol.
We hope there will be market
interest and market demand for
these polyols or for materials
with recycled content.
What about price? How will
that compare with virgin polyols?
Right
now, at this stage, I
don't think it's really fair to
make that comparison. After all,
we really need to compare apples
with apples. And once we
get the process to scale, I think
it will be a bit more comparable
but meanwhile I also think that
we should look at the value.
It's a big innovation and a
game changer for the polyurethane
industry: until now, polyurethanes
were not recyclable.
People said there was no
proper solution for post-used
polyurethane waste. And now
there is.
Of course, we are not addressing
all the waste with this
project. But I still think it's the
value that it brings that's important.
So,
in brief: we do regard it as
a differentiated product, but we
have to make sure that it will be
adopted - that it will be in demand,
so as to be able to scale
it up. It therefore has to be reasonably
priced, as well.
Another problem, next to the
cost of greener materials, is
availability. No one likes to be
dependent on a single supplier.
Are there others doing this
Will you be able to expand
that percentage upward?
We hope so. We'll know more
and learn more as we progress.
I think it's also a mindset shift
for a company like ours. While
30% may not sound big, we
know we cannot keep waiting
and so have opted to go ahead
and do it, instead of waiting to
see whether we could take this
percentage up to 60 or 70%.
There might be a slight difference
in colour but other than
that the physical properties of
the foam is identical to foam
produced with 100% virgin
polyols. The question that we
will then need to ask is: do we
really need all the physical properties
of the foam produced?
Are we over-specifying, maybe
because that's just the way the
producers can differentiate?
Right now we are demonstrating
that a recycled polyol
content of 30% is possible without
compromising in any way
on any physical properties.
In March, you also launched
a blockchain pilot project to
'test the technology's suitability
for supporting flexible
able to recycle up to 200,000
mattresses a year. There are
millions produced in Europe
every year, which means there's
plenty of scope for more of
these plants. I believe they will
come. Yes, we have to make
sure that we can actually scale
the technology. And first, we
also need customers and brand
owners to really say: we want
this in our mattress.
And right now, you can replace
about 30% of the polyol
in the foam formulation, so it's
not about creating a circular
mattress but about recycling or
reusing as many as possible.
Sustainable Plastics - October 2021

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