In Europe alone, people dispose of around 40 million mattresses every year. This figure reflects enormous environmental pressure. However, regrettably, only 17% of mattresses are effectively recycled. Moreover, half of the discarded mattresses end up in landfills and one third are incinerated. It leads to wastage of resources and severe harm to the natural environment. Faced with this pressing issue, German chemical giant Evonik has developed a new hydrolysis process that enables the polyols contained in flexible PU foams to be completely recovered, thus enhancing the recycling rate of PU products like mattresses and powering Europe’s environmental goals.
This innovative technology is a type of depolymerisation, whereby water is used to break down the chemical bonds in PU into the original polyol raw material. The company claims the quality of the recyclates is comparable to polyols made from mineral oil and even superior to polyols made through traditional methods in certain performance aspects. This groundbreaking achievement provides a new path for recycling PU products like mattresses, allowing discarded PU products to be transformed into high-quality raw materials for reuse in production.
The process is currently being tested in a pilot plant in Hanau, Germany. The operation of the pilot plant not only validates the feasibility of the technology but also provides valuable data support for further optimizing the process. In a next step, it will be tested in a larger demonstration plant. The demonstration plant intends to show that this also applies on a larger scale.
To ensure a stable supply of recycled materials, Evonik has established a close partnership with Remondis. As a leading waste management company in Europe, Remondis will provide carefully sorted PU flexible foams to Evonik. This collaboration not only guarantees the quality and quantity of recycled materials but also allows Evonik to expand its recycling scale, contributing more to the mattress recycling industry in Europe.
The Vita Group, a UK-based provider of flexible PU foam products, has already trialled the recycled polyols from Evonik’s hydrolysis process in several of its flexible foam applications. This initiative by Vita Group not only demonstrates its firm commitment to environmental sustainability but also provides valuable insights and inspiration for other PU product manufacturers.
“By working together with Remondis, we can evolve from the current linear value chains to functioning circular loops,” said Dr. Patrick Glöckner, head of Evonik’s global circular economy programme. “True circularity only works in networks, that’s why we are actively expanding our collaborations.” His words not only reflect Evonik’s strong belief in the circular economy model but also demonstrate their sense of socail responsibility as industry leaders.
The emergence of this innovative technology is not only expected to address the challenges of mattress recycling in Europe but will also have a profound impact on the consumption of polyols. With increased recycling rates, the contradiction between supply and demand of virgin polyols is expected to be somewhat alleviated. This will help reduce dependence on limited petroleum resources, lower production costs, and promote sustainable development in Europe. Moreover, the popularization of this process will also push the development of related industry chains, speeding up Europe’s transition to a circular economy.
