Press release
Successful completion of the PUReSmart project
On the way to a closed loop for PUR mattresses
- Chemical recycling of both flexible foam raw materials is now proven
- Recticel coordinated four-years EU-funded research project
- Covestro drives further development through to industrial use
- Evocycle® CQ Mattress is Covestro's first chemical recycling initiative
Now that the Europe-wide research project "PUReSmart" has come to an end, Recticel and Covestro are pleased with the positive outcome. They were able to demonstrate that the two main raw materials originally used in flexible polyurethane (PU) foam from mattresses can be recovered by chemical means to a high level of quality and purity. For the first time, a flexible foam sample has now been produced from fully recycled polyol and toluene diisocyanate (TDI), respectively. Both raw materials were obtained in Covestro’s pilot plant in Leverkusen.
"With this we have fully achieved the goal of developing a technology to chemically recycle these products and convert polyurethane into a high-quality recycled material," says Bart Haelterman, R&D Director at Recticel. "For the first time in history polyurethane is truly fitting into a circular economy." The European Union funded the PUReSmart project with six million euros over a four-year period under its Horizon 2020 research and innovation program
