Materials science company Dow has joined forces with Gruppo Fiori to unveil a new process in the recycling of polyurethane (PU) waste from end-of-life vehicles.
This process facilitates the recovery of PU materials without the need for disassembling the vehicles, leveraging Dow’s materials science expertise and Gruppo Fiori’s automotive recycling network to forge a new direction for the reuse of vehicle materials.
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According to Dow, PU foam plays a crucial role in the composition of automotive interiors, with an average car containing approximately 28kg of the material, of which 10-15kg is found in the seating.
The potential for sustainability impact is considerable given the volume of PU used.
This process ensures the purity required for depolymerisation, or chemical recycling, and contributes to a circular automotive supply chain.
Furthermore, the innovation allows industrial-scale recycling and PU reuse in mobility applications, supports the production of polyol with recycled content, and assists in meeting upcoming mandatory recycled content requirements as stipulated by the End of Life Vehicle Regulation (ELVR).
It also aligns with original equipment manufacturers’ (OEMs) sustainability objectives.
Dow Polyurethanes global MobilityScience marketing director Esther Quintanilla said: “Collaboration is essential to building a closed-loop supply chain for the automotive industry.
“By partnering with Gruppo Fiori, we aim to help OEMs and component manufacturers meet their sustainability goals and regulatory requirements for recycled content without sacrificing the performance benefits of polyurethanes.”
The announcement follows last year’s memorandum of understanding between Dow and Gruppo Fiori, which aimed to establish a new ecosystem for the recycling of end-of-life vehicle parts and materials.
The partnership has involved analysing the processes of dismantling, evaluating the recovered materials’ recyclability as well as purity, and piloting business models via an expedited “test-and-learn” approach.
Last year, Dow announced the commencement of commercial operations at its Polyurethanes Systems House in Ahlen, Germany, for its new Voratron adhesive and gap filler production line.
