For decades, scientists have been brainstorming ways to decrease the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. Now, a team at Denmark’s Aarhus Univ. has discovered a new method to recycle a foundational polymer called polyurethane (PUR) from commonly disposed of items such as mattresses, insulation, and shoes.
Polymers are classified based on how they behave under heat, and these behaviors impact their ability to be recycled. Thermoplastics, for example, don’t form chemical bonds during curing, allowing them to be easily melted and remolded. On the other hand, thermosets strengthen when cured and form new chemical bonds, making it difficult to recycle them.
PUR is one of the most used thermosets in materials manufacturing. In 2022, the global production of PUR was nearly 26 million tons. This is an environmental concern for two key reasons. Not only are the main components of the material extracted from fossil fuels, but most PUR products are either incinerated or thrown into landfills at the end of their lifespan due to their inability to be chemically transformed on a mass scale.
Currently, only a few companies convert flexible PUR into its original main...
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