Covestro has opened a new pilot plant at its Leverkusen site in Germany to advance the chemical recycling of high-performance polyurethane elastomers from laboratory development toward industrial application. The double-digit million-euro project focuses initially on selected end-of-life Vulkollan® materials, which are used in applications such as forklift wheels, railway buffer elements, automotive jounce bumpers and vibration-control components. Covestro says its process can recycle more than 90% of the selected material by mass by breaking the elastomer down into purified chemical building blocks for reuse, while reducing the carbon footprint by up to two thirds compared with fossil-based virgin material. The pilot facility will be used to test different waste streams, refine process conditions and generate data for future scale-up, while Covestro works with customers, recyclers, waste collectors and logistics providers to establish the collection and return systems needed for closed-loop elastomer recycling.

Pilot plant moves recycling process beyond laboratory scale

The new facility represents the next stage in Covestro’s development of a chemical recycling route for Vulkollan®. According to the company, the pilot plant is one of the first installations of its kind worldwide for this class of high-performance elastomers and is intended to demonstrate technical feasibility under conditions closer to future industrial operation.

The plant will allow Covestro to process different end-of-life material streams, optimize operating parameters and evaluate the consistency of recovered chemical building blocks. The resulting technical data is expected to support decisions on future industrial-scale deployment.

More than 90% of selected Vulkollan material can be recycled

Covestro says its chemical recycling process can recover more than 90% of selected end-of-life Vulkollan material by mass. Instead of mechanically reducing the elastomer into lower-value material, the process chemically breaks it down into purified building blocks that can potentially be used again in polymer production.

The company also reports that the recycled route can reduce the carbon footprint by up to two thirds compared with production based on fossil-derived virgin material. The figure applies to the selected Vulkollan material and process evaluated by Covestro rather than to elastomer recycling in general.

Vulkollan used in demanding industrial and automotive applications

Vulkollan is a high-performance polyurethane elastomer used where durability, resilience and mechanical performance are important. Applications cited by Covestro include forklift wheels, railway buffer elements, automotive jounce bumpers and vibration-control components.

These products can be difficult to recycle at the end of their service life because crosslinked elastomers cannot simply be remelted in the same way as conventional thermoplastics. Chemical recycling therefore offers a potential route for recovering molecular building blocks rather than treating the material only through mechanical recycling, energy recovery or disposal.

Covestro seeks closed-loop collection and recycling systems

Developing the recycling technology is only one part of the project. Covestro is also working with customers, recyclers, waste collectors, logistics providers and other partners to create collection and return systems for suitable end-of-life elastomer products.

Reliable feedstock supply and consistent material quality will be important for future commercialization. Closed-loop systems can help identify suitable products, keep different elastomer grades separated and provide the volumes required for economically viable recycling operations.

Technology may expand to other polyurethane elastomers

Beyond Vulkollan, Covestro plans to use the pilot plant to investigate circular solutions for selected specialty cast elastomers and thermoplastic polyurethanes. This could broaden the range of polyurethane materials that can be returned to productive use instead of becoming waste.

The work is part of Covestro’s broader circular economy strategy, which seeks to replace fossil resources with recycled and alternative raw materials while developing technologies capable of keeping polymers in circulation for longer.

Project targets future industrial-scale elastomer recycling

Covestro describes the Leverkusen facility as a pre-industrialization step rather than a commercial recycling plant. The immediate objective is to validate the process technically, improve its performance and establish the data and value-chain partnerships required before larger-scale investment can be considered.

If successfully scaled, chemical recycling could complement existing recycling approaches for difficult elastomer waste streams by recovering higher-value chemical feedstocks. The project therefore contributes to wider efforts to develop circular solutions for polyurethane and rubber-like materials used in automotive, transport and industrial applications.

Information source: Covestro.