The Vita Group and Dow jointly announced a new collaboration for the production of flexible polyurethane foams made with Renuva polyols.
The Vita Group and Dow jointly announced a new collaboration for the production of flexible polyurethane foams made with Renuva polyols – raw materials created from recycled mattress content. The Renuva mattress recycling programme is a circular economy initiative from Dow.
The new collaboration will create new markets for post-consumer waste mattresses.
With this announcement, the programme will demonstrate the possibility of closing the loop for post-consumer mattresses and the role of PU in a circular economy, said the companies. As previously announced, Eco-mobilier will supply post-consumer PU mattress foam for chemical recycling to the first industrial scale production plant operated by Orrion Chemicals Orgaform in France. The result of this process will be new polyols, ready for use in foam solutions. The Vita Group will start using Renuva polyols at its production site of ICOA in Crancey, France, in early 2021. Vita will also work closely with its customers and mattress brands in the French and European markets to promote the application of the foam for new mattresses as well as seek applications in other product areas.
“The Vita Group is inspired to be partnering with Dow in the innovative Renuva programme. Sustainability and innovation are integral to Vita’s culture, our purpose, and our values. We are committed to being pioneers in the development of a circular economy within our industry, where post-consumer flexible PU foams will be recycled into new raw materials for use in our manufacturing processes to produce new quality foams,” said Ian W. Robb, Group CEO for The Vita Group.
“We are proud to expand the Renuva ecosystem by having Vita on board to produce flexible foam with Renuva polyol. Their market experience and sustainability focus will help enable a faster industry realisation of a circular economy for flexible polyurethane foams,” said Ana Carolina Haracemiv, EMEAI Commercial Vice President, Dow Polyurethanes.
The Renuva mattress recycling programme aims to recycle up to 200,000 mattresses per year in France and help address the problem of waste landfilling and incineration. Initial production of Renuva polyols is anticipated in the first half of 2021.