H&S Anlagentechnik GmbH has delivered what it said is the world's first industrial-scale system to recover polyol from flexible polyurethane foam waste to a Polish slabstock maker.
H&S said the equipment went into operation in July 2013. It is designed to produce 2,500 t/year recovered polyol.
Besides the recycling reactor, H&S has also supplied the storage and conveying facilities for the solid and liquid input materials as well as cooling and storage tanks for recovered polyol.
Technology of flexible PU foam conversion developed by H&S's chemists is based on acidolysis method.
The new recycling process enables the foamer to take all of the flexible foam residues arising during foam block cutting and return it to the production process.
The recovered polyol can be replace up to 20% of virgin polyol in foam formulation without compromising the quality of the flexible foam product, said H&S.
Although no investment figures were disclosed, H&S said its customer was impressed by the considerable potential for economies in their supply of raw materials and, as a result, the short payback period.