“The target is to recover the raw materials with a quality comparable to that of non-recycled/virgin raw materials,” said Shankara Keelapandal, business management isocyanates Europe.

The BASF process breaks down the flexible PU to polyol feedstock, from which it can manufacture new foam with a significantly lower carbon footprint because fewer fossil resources are used.

“It makes projects of that nature quite attractive because, while mattresses are easy to collect and to sort out, at the end of their lifecycle they currently end up being either incinerated or in a landfill,” explained technical project manager Arno Volkmann.

Keelapandal added that that the project is technically complex, but the potential to reduce waste volumes and save resources “makes it all worth it.”

First volumes of the recycled material will be delivered to project partners later this year to develop pilot projects together.

According to BASF, most mattresses are thrown away after an average of 10 years. Although having a new mattress may be beneficial to sleep, simply tossing the old one squanders resources and creates a high volume of waste.

Agreement with Shanghai logistics company

In separate news, the German chemical group has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Zhengming Modern Logistics Co to develop insulating PU sandwich panels based on BASF’s Elastopir rigid foam system. The panels will be used in the construction of refrigerated storage for China’s cold chain industry.

“We have typically collaborated with various partners along the cold chain, such as panel producers, to develop PU sandwich panels. This new collaboration marks a significant milestone for BASF, as we are collaborating directly with a cold storage owner,” said Desmond Long, vice president, business management, performance materials Greater China, at BASF.

Under the terms of the deal, BASF will support the exchange of information and technology as well as market development while Zhengming will designate the polyurethanes major as its supplier for all joint cold storage projects. The partners will also explore joint marketing and promotion opportunities for PU sandwich panels.