Mechanical PU Recycling: A New Path for Rigid Foam?
19.11.2025
Rigid polyurethane foam is used wherever insulation or lightweight construction are important. But until now, its life has usually ended in the waste incineration plant. A team at the IKT wants to change that: a new process should make it possible to mechanically recycle PU rigid foam and return it to new products as a filler – an approach that is more energy-efficient than previous processes.
Plastics in the Electrical Industry: High-tech Materials for Smart Devices
23.07.2025
Did you know that the average smartphone contains around twenty grams of plastic? Plastics are not only found in the housings, but also in tiny components such as insulators on circuit boards or flexible connecting elements. They make modern devices lighter, safer, and more powerful and are therefore a key driver of innovation in electronics.
BEAD.MACHINE sets new standards in particle foam processing
31.01.2024
Particle foam offers a wide range of applications - from automotive to packaging and lifestyle. The BEAD.MACHINE from Siegfried Hofmann GmbH marks a significant advance in the processing of this versatile class of materials: it enables the efficient production of complex moulded particle foam parts, setting new standards in terms of product quality and environmental friendliness.
Bend it like PU – Plastics in sport
30.11.2022
Today, no one can imagine leather balls, wooden rackets, bamboo poles or cinder tracks in sporting competition. Natural materials have now been almost completely replaced by other materials: plastics. They are light, robust and highly functional. Thanks to intensive research, they are also becoming more and more efficient – and ultimately lead to new world records.
"They are recyclables, not waste" – Recycling of rigid polyurethane foams
23.08.2022
Circular Economy is teamwork. Everyone can contribute, and every single step counts. Covestro is making its contribution – together with other partners such as Circularise – with the CIRCULAR FOAM research project. This is about recycling rigid polyurethane foams that are used in the insulation of buildings or refrigeration appliances.
Fly me to the moon: how high-performance plastics contribute to radiation protection in space
26.07.2022
When it comes to the use of high-performance plastics in space, you probably first think of spacesuits or lightweight components. But there is another area of application: radiation protection. Space radiation is a risk to humans that should not be underestimated. In the MARE experiment, this risk is to be determined in order to develop protective measures for future space flights.
BASF and NEVEON cooperate on mattress recycling
24.03.2022
The first trials on chemical recycling of mattresses by BASF and NEVEON were successful. BASF is developing a wet chemical recycling process for used mattresses made of flexible polyurethane. Mattress take-back pilot is an important step towards circular economy.
Chemists develop radical way to make it easier, more profitable to recycle plastic
01.03.2022
By modifying carbon-hydrogen bonds, chemists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill transform plastic trash into tougher, stronger material. They started with plastic foam packaging used to protect electronics during shipping that otherwise ends up in landfills.
Borealis acquires minority stake in UK-based sustainable packaging innovator Bockatech
10.01.2022
Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals and fertilizers, announces that it has acquired a minority stake in Limited, a UK-based growth-stage green tech business and inventor of the innovative EcoCore ® manufacturing technology platform for sustainable packaging.
New biodegradable polyurethane foams are developed from wheat straw
01.04.2021
Every year around 734 million tons of wheat straw are produced worldwide, a large amount of waste, which is cheap and has had no well-defined use until now. Recently, research groups at the University of Córdoba have been able to give a new use to this agricultural excess material, by using it as the foundation in order to manufacture polyurethane foams.
Upcycling spongy plastic foams from shoes, mattresses and insulation
12.05.2020
Researchers have developed a new method for upcycling polyurethane foams, the spongy material found in mattresses, insulation, furniture cushions and shoes.