Upcycling foam into higher-value products

Polyurethane foams are used widely in large-scale applications – from carpet underlay to vehicle interiors. Rigid forms of the foams are effective insulation materials used in construction: roof and wall insulation, insulated windows, doors and air barrier sealants. Mountains of toxic polyurethane end up in landfill.

The EU-funded CIRCULAR FOAM project will reverse this trend. Specifically, it will develop a cross-sectoral systemic solution for the circularity of high-performance plastics from diverse applications. The waste streams will be upcycled chemically and valorised to become new virgin-equivalent feedstock for the chemical industry to produce new high-performance plastics.

CIRCULAR FOAM aims at the demonstration of a territorial cross-sectorial systemic solution for the circularity of high performance plastics from diverse applications on the example of rigid polyurethane foams used as insulation in refrigerators and in construction.

The waste streams will be upcycled chemically, which means that they will be valorised to become new virgin-equivalent feedstock for the chemical industry to produce new high performance plastics. In this way, it will become possible to replace limited fossil-based resources by the renewable waste-based ones, thus not only reducing waste, but also becoming more sustainable and making a step forward to climate neutrality.

The project and the demonstration are targeting a concrete implementation of the solution in question in the selected regions after the project and developing a blueprint for both the geographical transferability to other regions and for the technological extension of the circularity principle to a number of further waste materials from further applications.

We consider here two carefully selected regions: NRW/Germany, Silesia/PL and Greater Amstedam Region. The consortium is composed of all actors required to close the circular value chain (process industries, manufacturing, waste management, technology providers, incl. also research partners, logistics, social scientists and economist working with with public sector and citizens.

After practical implementation and replication in EU of the systemic solution, following reductions will have been attained by 2040: 586.000 tons per year less waste, 18,6 mln. tons less CO2 emission; 118 mln EUR less cost for incineration for the PU producers. The system will signifficantly contribute to resilience in regions.

Partners

• COVESTRO DEUTSCHLAND AG
• INTERSEROH DIENSTLEISTUNGS GMBH
• ALBA ELECTRONICS RECYCLING GMBH
• PRZEDSIEBIORSTWO TECHNIKI SANITARNEJ ALBA SPOLKA Z OGRANICZONA ODPOWIEDZIALNOSCIA
• BT-WOLFGANG BINDER GMBH
• FLOORING INDUSTRIES LIMITED
• UNILIN
• ELECTROLUX ITALIA SPA
• CIRCULARISE BV
• BIOBTX BV
• RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN
• RHEINISCH-WESTFAELISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE AACHEN
• TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DORTMUND
• STICHTING HOGESCHOOL VAN AMSTERDAM
• STICHTING NEDERLANDSE WETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK INSTITUTEN
• UNIWERSYTET EKONOMICZNY WE WROCLAWIU
• EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
• FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV
• RUHR-UNIVERSITAET BOCHUM
• FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JULICH GMBH
• GORNOSLASKO-ZAGLEBIOWSKA METROPOLIA
• PARK NAUKOWO-TECHNOLOGICZNY EURO-CENTRUM SPOLKA Z OGRANICZONA ODPOWIEDZIALNOSCIA
• IZNAB SPOLKA Z OGRANICZONA ODPOWIEDZIALNOSCIA
• DECHEMA GESELLSCHAFT FUR CHEMISCHETECHNIK UND BIOTECHNOLOGIE

Start date: 1 October 2021 - End date: 30 September 2025

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101036854.