Sanyo Chemical Launches Polyurethane Foam Chemical Recycling Initiative With Partners

Sanyo Chemical Industries, together with Toyotsu Chemiplas and Evonik Industries, has jointly launched an initiative to produce recycled polyols in Japan using chemical recycling of polyurethane foam. The partners position the model as going beyond conventional downcycling toward a circular economy.

Key facts

Market context

Polyols are a core raw material for polyurethanes, which are made by reacting polyols with isocyanates. Flexible and rigid polyurethane foams are used widely in furniture and bedding, automotive seating and interiors, building insulation, and refrigeration equipment, so demand for polyols tracks construction, transport, and consumer durables activity. Most polyols today are made from virgin petrochemical feedstocks. Mechanical recycling of foam is difficult because the cross-linked structure does not remelt, so much waste foam has historically been downcycled into low-value products such as carpet underlay. Chemical recycling breaks foam back into polyol-type building blocks that can be reused in new foam formulations, which could give foam producers an additional feedstock source. Any such route would still need to compete on cost, quality consistency, and supply volume against established virgin polyol producers.

Source: official release on sanyo-chemical.co.jp. Summary and context written by Market Krystal.