New mattresses from old from BASF

Chemicals giant BASF has developed a process to chemically recycle polyurethane soft foam from old mattresses.

It has produced secondary materials of virgin quality from which industry partners are creating new foams and mattresses.

Polyols and isocyanates are needed to produce polyurethane foam mattresses. BASF has now succeeded in producing high-quality polyols from used mattresses, instead of fossil raw materials.

Partner Neveon

Neveon, an integrated foam company that produces polyurethane flexible and composite foams as blocks, rolls, and sheets, is involved in the project. The partner processes BASF’s recycled polyols into high-quality mattress foam, whose polyol component has a high recycled content of 80%. These are now being used for the first time at BASF’s Business-Hotel René Bohn.

‘We are proud of the progress we are making in our partnership with Neveon,’ says Christopher Metz, vp for BASF’s European isocyanates and intermediates business. ‘However, the broad commercial availability of recycled polyols still lies ahead. We need to get all stakeholders along the value chain on board to be able to close the mattress loop in a targeted way.’