Dow, H&S, Orrion in mattress recycling collaboration

Semoy, France – Dow Polyurethanes plans to build an industrial-scale recycling facility at Orrion Chemicals Orgaform site.
 

The facility will use Dow's Renuva process to convert the foam from post-consumer mattresses into polyols. The polyols can be used in flexible or rigid foam. Dow is working with H&S Anlagentechnik as part of a collaboration that was first reported on UTECH-polyurethane.com in 2018.

At the time, the companies announced that they were partnering in a project to develop a commercially viable recycling method for polyurethane mattresses. 

Dow said that the project would help recycle some of the 30m mattresses that are discarded at their end of life in Europe each year.

Ana Haracemiv, commercial director EMEAI at Dow Polyurethanes, said: '[This] is a significant step towards achieving circularity for a product which traditionally poses significant challenges for recycling. Our ambition is to address some circular economy goals set out in the EU's Green Deal and national waste management strategies.'

'This will be a major investment that fits with the growth strategy of our company,' added Christian Siest, president at Orrion Chemicals Orgaform.

Plant construction should be complete by the end of the year, and product should be available in the first half of 2021, according to Dow.