Covestro Commissions Chemical Recycling Pilot Plant for High-Performance Elastomers in Germany

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 16, Covestro commissioned a chemical recycling pilot plant for high-performance elastomers at its Leverkusen site in Germany, advancing its Vulkollan polyurethane elastomer recycling technology from the laboratory stage to pilot operation. The project represents an investment in the tens of millions of euros. The plant will be used to validate the processing adaptability of different waste elastomer feedstocks, optimize depolymerization and purification processes, and generate operating data for subsequent industrial scale-up.

The process primarily targets Vulkollan high-performance polyurethane elastomers that have reached the end of their service life. After entering the chemical recycling process, the waste material is broken down into reusable chemical raw materials, which are further purified and returned to the polyurethane material production system. Covestro disclosed that selected waste Vulkollan materials can achieve a recycling rate of more than 90% by mass, and that the carbon footprint of the new materials can be reduced by up to approximately two-thirds compared with using fossil-based virgin raw materials.

Vulkollan is a high-performance cast polyurethane elastomer, mainly used in high-load industrial wheels, rollers and other industrial components requiring wear resistance and load-bearing performance. In addition to validating closed-loop recycling of Vulkollan, the new plant will also be used to study recycling processes for certain Desmodur-based cast polyurethanes and specific Desmopan thermoplastic polyurethane materials.

The pilot plant's scope of operation includes testing different waste sources, optimizing chemical depolymerization parameters, purifying recycled raw materials, validating product quality, and collecting continuous operation data. Based on the pilot results, Covestro will evaluate the process parameters, raw material quality requirements and scale-up construction conditions for subsequent industrial plants.

The project is also establishing a waste elastomer recycling supply chain in parallel. Covestro is working with downstream customers, waste recycling companies, collection companies and logistics service providers to advance the construction of a system for the collection, sorting and transportation of end-of-life products, so as to ensure that future large-scale plants have a stable source of waste and raw material quality that meets process requirements.

Covestro has previously established multiple polyurethane chemical recycling technology routes at Leverkusen, including flexible polyurethane foam depolymerization, polycarbonate chemical decomposition, and feedstock recycling of rigid polyurethane foam via pyrolysis. The newly commissioned high-performance elastomer pilot plant further expands the company's recycling validation capabilities for cast polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane.

The project is currently in the pilot operation phase and will continue with testing of different waste streams, process optimization and data collection for industrial scale-up.