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The rigid foam hidden in the walls of refrigerators, freezers, and building panels has become part of a European chemical recycling route capable of recovering components used in the manufacture of new plastics.
Coordinated by the manufacturer Covestro in Germany, the CIRCULAR FOAM project brought together companies, universities, research institutes, and waste operators to tackle a material that typically ends up in landfills or incinerators.
The initiative targets rigid polyurethane, a lightweight and durable polymer that reduces heat transfer and helps appliances and buildings consume less energy.
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This efficiency, however, comes with an end-of-life challenge: the material’s chemical structure is cross-linked and does not melt like conventional thermoplastics, preventing simple heating and reshaping.
According to CORDIS, the official service of the European Commission for research results, about 1 million tons of polyurethane waste go unrecycled annually on the continent.
Besides the volume destined for incineration or disposal, the loss represents raw materials that need to be produced again from fossil-based resources.
To change this flow, CIRCULAR FOAM developed two complementary chemical recycling technologies initially aimed at rigid foam removed from refrigerators.
Instead of merely shredding the waste and incorporating it into a lower-value product, the processes break down the polymer chains and recover substances related to the production of polyols and isocyanates, the two groups of components that form polyurethane.
Part of the tests took place on a laboratory scale at RWTH Aachen University and Covestro’s facilities.
Another front was conducted by the German institute Fraunhofer UMSICHT, where a pyrolysis system was adapted to process the rigid foam and recover compounds associated with isocyanates.
Pyrolysis uses heat under controlled conditions to break down materials and generate products that can return to the industry.
According to the results released by CORDIS, more than 400 kilograms of polyurethane foam removed from end-of-life products were processed during the project.
The operation mainly generated about 300 liters of pyrolysis oil containing aniline, a substance used as a precursor in the isocyanate production chain.
The recovered material did not remain just as a laboratory sample.
In Switzerland, the company Sulzer ChemTech used the recycled product to manufacture new polyurethane foams, completing a demonstration that started from waste and returned to a material with a similar application.
The project estimated that aniline production through this route can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80 percent compared to the fossil-based raw material process.
The experience involved 26 partners from nine countries and was organized to address more than just the chemical stage.
Collection, separation, contaminant identification, product design, and tracking were also included in the work, because the quality of the recovered foam directly affects the efficiency and safety of industrial reuse.
Refrigerators and freezers already have established collection systems in various European countries, but the foam obtained from dismantling can arrive mixed, degraded, or contaminated.
CIRCULAR FOAM evaluated sorting methods capable of distinguishing different formulations and separating undesirable substances, including flame retardants present in certain products.
In buildings, the challenge is broader.
Insulation boards and sandwich panels tend to remain installed for decades and can be damaged during renovations or demolitions.
Unlike appliances, this sector still does not have an equivalent collection chain for foam, making it difficult to gather standardized and adequate quantities for processing.
The initiative developed a specific model for sandwich panels, formed by a layer of polyurethane between metal sheets.
A prototype was analyzed by construction representatives in five European countries and received design changes to facilitate transport, disassembly, and future circulation of materials.
Traceability was also incorporated into the test.
Quick response codes were installed on the panels to store information related to composition, origin, and certification, following the concept of a digital product passport.
This record can help operators identify the type of foam decades after installation, when the component finally reaches the end of its useful life.
The project began in October 2021 and concluded its activities in September 2025, with a total cost reported by CORDIS of approximately 19.2 million euros.
Of this amount, about 15.8 million euros came from European Union resources, while coordination remained under the responsibility of Covestro Deutschland.
Although the demonstration proved chemical recovery and the manufacturing of new foams, the transformation of large volumes depends on integration between manufacturers, dismantlers, construction companies, municipalities, and recyclers.
The process needs to receive waste with known composition, control contaminants, and produce raw material of adequate quality to return to industrial lines.
The technologies and sorting systems developed have begun to be extended to other waste streams containing polyurethane.
This advancement broadens the scope of a discussion that is not limited to appliances, as the same type of material appears in walls, roofs, cold storage rooms, and different insulation structures.
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