Evonik has joined forces with the Remondis Group, one of the world's leading recycling companies to secure the supply of end-of-life mattress foams. The cooperation will support Evonik as it develops its chemical recycling process to the next level.

Evonik’s innovative hydrolysis process makes it possible to recover the main components of polyurethane foam and reuse them as high-quality building blocks in the production of new mattresses. This process is currently being tested in a pilot plant in Hanau, and in a next step, the recycling process will be tested in a larger demonstration plant.

According to estimations, more than 250 kilotons of PU foam from old mattresses are incinerated or landfilled in Europe every year.

Evonik and Remondis want to help reduce this with the goal of ensuring fewer fossil raw materials are used in the PU value chain by returning valuable materials to the raw material cycle. "Circularity in the field of flexible polyurethane foams is very important both for the environment, and for the future viability of our business. It gives us the opportunity to act in the interests of the environment, the industry, and consumers," said Thomas Wessel, the member of Evonik's Executive Board responsible for sustainability.

The R Remondis Group contributes its expertise in sorting PU flexible foams from waste and feeding them into the cycle in constant quality so that they can be converted into chemical recyclates using Evonik's hydrolysis process. "By working together with REMONDIS, we can evolve from the current linear value chains to functioning circular loops. True circularity only works in networks, that’s why we are actively expanding our collaborations," said Dr. Patrick Glöckner, Head of Evonik's Global Circular Economy Program.

According to findings so far, Evonik's process significantly reduces the CO2 footprint compared with mattress production using fossil raw materials. The demonstration plant intends to prove that this also applies on a larger scale.