Covestro Leverkusen Commissions Pilot Plant for Chemical Recycling of High-Performance Elastomers
en.Wedoany.com Reported - Covestro Germany has officially commissioned a pilot plant for the chemical recycling of high-performance elastomers at its Leverkusen site. The project involves an investment in the double-digit million euro range, advancing the recycling process for Vulkollan® high-performance polyurethane elastomers from the laboratory R&D stage to pilot operation, with a focus on validating process stability, feedstock flexibility, and the parameters required for future industrial scale-up. Covestro states that the plant is one of the world's earliest chemical recycling pilot facilities built for this material category.
The new plant primarily processes end-of-life Vulkollan® materials. These high-performance polyurethane elastomers are used in forklift wheels, railway buffer components, automotive bump stops, and industrial vibration damping parts. The chemical recycling process developed by Covestro can break down and convert selected end-of-life materials into purified chemical base feedstocks, which are then used to produce new materials. At present, the process achieves a mass recovery rate of over 90%, and compared with virgin materials produced from fossil feedstocks, the carbon footprint of the related products can be reduced by up to approximately two-thirds.
Following the commissioning of the pilot plant, Covestro will introduce end-of-life elastomer feedstocks from various sources, continuously optimize the chemical decomposition, purification, and feedstock reuse processes, and obtain the operating data needed for the design of future industrial-scale plants. The project focuses on validating the technical feasibility of the chemical recycling route, improving process stability, and establishing a process parameter system suitable for large-scale production.
On the feedstock side, Covestro is working with customers, recycling companies, waste collectors, and logistics companies to build an end-of-life elastomer collection and return system to secure feedstock supply and consistent quality for future chemical recycling plants. The company also plans to leverage the Leverkusen pilot plant to explore recycling technologies for certain specialty cast elastomers and thermoplastic polyurethane materials.
The commissioning of this plant marks Covestro's entry into the engineering validation stage for its high-performance elastomer chemical recycling technology. Subsequent industrial scale-up will focus primarily on the waste collection system, feedstock quality control, continuous process operation, and the economics of large-scale production. The Leverkusen site will also continue to serve as Covestro's pilot and industrialization validation base for polyurethane and high-performance material recycling technologies.
