New polyurethane recycling method for end-of-life vehicles developed by Dow and Gruppo Fiori

Dow, in partnership with Gruppo Fiori, has announced the latest advances in a jointly developed process that enables recovery of polyurethane waste from end-of-life vehicles without disassembly. This innovation combines Dow’s expertise in materials science and Gruppo Fiori’s established automotive recycling ecosystem to create a new pathway for end-of-life vehicle materials.

Polyurethane foam recycling

Polyurethane (PU) foam is an essential part of automotive interiors. A typical car contains about 28kg of PU, 10-15kg of which is in seats. Traditional recycling of vehicles, however, requires disassembly of automotive components, creating cost and complexity for recyclers.

Dow and Gruppo Fiori’s process eliminates this step, producing a simplified recovery for the PU waste stream with the purity needed to enable depolymerization (chemical recycling). This innovation facilitates the creation of polyol with recycled content.

“Collaboration is essential to building a closed-loop supply chain for the automotive industry,” said Dr Esther Quintanilla, global mobility science marketing director at Dow Polyurethanes. “By partnering with Gruppo Fiori, we aim to help OEMs and component manufacturers meet their sustainability goals and regulatory requirements for recycled content without sacrificing the performance benefits of polyurethanes.”

“Advancing circular ecosystems means bringing every member of the automotive value chain to the design table to solve recyclability challenges,” said Mauro Grotto, president of Italmetalli, a Gruppo Fiori company. “By augmenting our expertise in recovering and sorting materials from end-of-life vehicles with Dow’s depolymerization capabilities, we can restore the value of waste and share that value with the industry.”