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POLYURETHANES | INNOVATIONS


IKEA searches for PU foam solutions


Furniture giant IKEA, a major user of PU foam in mattresses and other products, is on the path to switching to renewable and recycled materials. By 2030, the global group wants to be “climate positive” and to “regenerate resources”, said Caroline McGarvey, Sustainability Manager at Ikea, Range and Supply, at AMI’s Polymer Foam virtual summit in January. The group’s Sustainability Report for 2020 said it was in the final stages of testing recycled polyols in collabo- ration with recycling company RetourMatras in Netherlands. This has the potential to remove 3m mattresses per year from incineration or landfill. IKEA products used 155,000 tonnes of foam in 2019; sales of mattresses were about 15m and sales of sofas more than 17m. Foam makes up 52% of materials used in comfort applications. IKEA has three main objectives in its foam agenda: to reduce and replace


traditional foam; to increase the use of renewable and recycled raw materials; and to improve disassembly after-life for post-consumer recycling. “Is foam really a comfort material for IKEA?” asked McGarvey. Since 2015, the group has been looking at whether it should continue using foam or instead focus work on alternative comfort materials. “We still have this as an open question and here is where we need the industry and our partners to


BASF has also developed a chemical recycling


process for used mattresses. Last year, it said it was starting pilot tests at its Schwarzheide site in eastern Germany. Once again, the aim is to create raw materials for use in the production of new mattresses. “The target is to recover the raw materials with a quality comparable to that of non-recycled/virgin raw materials”, says Shankara Keelapandal, Busi- ness Management Isocyanates Europe. Last June, BASF said first volumes of the


recycled material would be delivered to project partners later in the year to develop pilot projects together. “The project is technically complex, but the potential to reduce waste volumes and save resources makes it all worth it,” said Keelapandal at the time. “Our target is to recover the raw materials with a quality comparable to that of non-recycled/virgin raw materials and the highest recyclability,” says a company representative. “The project is progress- ing very well including the pilot trials at Schwarz- heide.” No more details are available at present. Most mattresses today last no more than 10 years on average, BASF says, “thus squandering


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


come in and help us in this journey.” Polyols derived from soy have been used by IKEA to partly replace oil- derived polyols for five years. Mc- Garvey said castor is in the early stage of trials as another bio-feedstock. Despite progress, it still faces chal- lenges on the road to meeting its 2030 goals. In foams, she said: “We miss a solution on isocyanates and we miss partnerships that enable us to explore and implement solutions globally.”


resources and creating high quantities of waste. At the same time, valuable raw materials are needed to manufacture new soft foam mattresses – above all crude oil. A circular economy solution for mattresses can therefore both reduce waste and save fossil resources.”


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.recyc-matelas.frhttps://mattressrecyclingcouncil.orgwww.pfa.orgwww.europur.orgwww.isopa.orgwww.repurpose.nuwww.polynspire.euwww.recticel.com � www.puresmart.euwww.aimplas.net � https://urbanrec-project.euwww.rampf-group.com � www.dow.com � www.hs-anlagentechnik.dewww.thevitagroup.com � www.basf.com � https://about.ikea.com


January/February 2021 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 39


IMAGE: IKEA


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