INNOVATION | POLYURETHANE


Right: Ward Dhaese, Innovation Manager at Recticel Insulation


recyclable plastics to be broadened to explicitly include thermosets and polyurethane foams, and for harmonised EU rules on calculating and verifying chemically recycled content via mass balance accounting. In another important


market, footwear, Huntsman announced in November what it called a “breakthrough” system, developed with safety footwear manufacturer Steitz Secura, for incorporating recycled PU into protective footwear midsoles without compromising perfor- mance, including in premium products. Using Huntsman’s existing Daltoped processing system, the approach required no changes to customers’ existing processing or chemistry workflows. Wolfgang Burkhard, Head of PUR at Steitz


Secura, said: “By taking our own PU scrap and reusing it, we have been able to manufacture new midsoles containing 20% recycled content. Together with Huntsman and a technology partner, we have been working to push up this percentage and can now increase the recycled content of new midsoles up to 30%.” Alex Stepuk, Business Development Circularity Manager at Huntsman, said the partnership approach enabled the group to develop a scalable way to recover and repurpose PU waste material.


Project progress Repsol’s Recpur plant at its Puertollano industrial complex in Spain – which came onstream in 2024 using acidolysis-based chemical recycling technol- ogy licensed from Germany’s Rampf Eco Solutions – has continued to operate as the company’s flagship route for PU circularity. The plant process- es around 2,000 tonnes/yr of post-consumer PU foam waste, predominantly from mattresses, as part of Repsol’s Reciclex circular polyols program, which the company says can be dropped into standard foam-production processes. The Recpur plant uses the acidolysis process to


convert polyurethane foam into a liquid, which produces a circular polyol with an approximate 40% PU waste content. Repsol markets this polyol under the Reciclex brand, part of the group’s strategic objective of producing 150,000 tonnes of circular or bio-based products by 2030. Repsol states the circular polyol cuts carbon foot- print by 20-30% compared with fossil-based polyol and describes itself as “pioneers in Europe in polyu- rethane recycling,” alongside a stated target for


28 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | July/August 2026


15% of its marketed polyol portfolio to be circular. Repsol has been investing


more than €700m for decar- bonisation and circular-econo- my projects at Puertollano. It is not only raw materials


groups but also PU product manufacturers that are building recycling technology. In May, insulation board manu- facturer Recticel announced the opening of its new industrial-scale


recycled polyol plant in Wevelgem, Belgium.


The facility has been developed as part of the group’s broader strategy, in which post-industrial PIR (polyisocyanurate) waste is converted into high- quality recycled polyol. Recticel said it is the first PIR producer to invest in a recycled polyol reactor at this industrial scale. At the Wevelgem plant, PIR offcuts and produc- tion trimmings are converted into reusable raw material for the manufacturing of new insulation boards. Designed for continuous industrial operation, the plant will initially recycle up to 4,000 tonnes/yr of PIR waste. Recticel said it is aiming to replace up to one-third of the virgin polyol it uses in PIR insulation boards with recycled content. The recycled polyol produced is expected to deliver approximately 40% lower carbon emissions compared to virgin polyol, it said. Ward Dhaese, Innovation Manager at Recticel


Insulation, said: “With advanced technology we demonstrate how high-performance insulation materials can be engineered for multiple lifecycles, moving our industry away from linear production models.” In its circularity drive, Recticel is aiming to


increase recycled content across its product portfolio, as well as explore potential take-back programs and further reduce waste throughout its production and distribution processes. • This article was written with AI assistance.


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.basf.com � www.porsche.com � www.covestro.com � www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de � www.dow.com � https://gruppofiori.it � www.huntsman.com � https://steitzsecura.com � www.repsol.com � www.recticel.com


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


I


M


A


G


E


R


:


E


T


C


C I


L E


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32