Profitable Polyurethane Foam Recycling

A process for recycling of polyurethane foam has been developed and introduced to the market. The system offers significant manufacturing cost savings while maintaining the foam’s original properties. The Mobius system grinds bulk scrap to a powder (avg. particle size of approximately 50 microns) that can be added back in the polyol component. Recycle content in the new foam of 10% to 15% and higher can be achieved, depending on the formulation. Mobius provides a complete turnkey process, from initial scrap grinding to the mixing system for metering and blending the powder with the polyol. Laboratory assistance in modifying the formulation chemistry to work with the added powder is also provided. In past attempts to develop this recycling process, the difficulty of grinding foam to a sufficiently fine powder prevented large-scale commercialization. Either the grinding process was too expensive or the powder wasn’t sufficiently fine. These areas have been researched, and successfully developed by Mobius, over the past three years. The result is a process that can be operated profitably at the foam plant. Manufacturers of both slabstock and molded flexible foam have used the process successfully. The process can be used with standard polyurethane foam, high resilience, polyester, and filled foams. The main benefit of the process is the substantial manufacturing cost savings that can be achieved. The use of powdered polyurethane additive reduces the chemicals needed to produce the same amount of foam. Manufacturing cost savings of 4% or more are currently being achieved, even taking into account the value of the scrap foam. More information on the process can be found at https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href=" https://www.mobiustechnologies.com "> www.mobiustechnologies.com .