Descripción del proyecto
Reciclaje de espuma de poliuretano termoestable de larga duración
Los productos de poliuretano (PU) termoestable son uno de los materiales plásticos más importantes producidos a nivel mundial. Se tratan de espumas flexibles y rígidas, duraderas y resistentes, que se emplean en múltiples aplicaciones diferentes. Con todo, su reciclaje es complicado. En este sentido, el proyecto financiado con fondos europeos PUReSMart ha reunido a nueve socios de seis países para buscar nuevos métodos, tecnologías y enfoques. El objetivo es convertir el PU en un material circular. El proyecto se propone recuperar más del 90 % del PU al final de su vida útil en pos de convertirlo en insumos valiosos para productos nuevos y conocidos. El consorcio del proyecto desarrollará tecnologías de clasificación inteligentes para separar una amplia gama de materiales de PU en materias primas concretas, que se fraccionarán en sus componentes básicos.
Objetivo
Thermosetting Polyurethanes (PU) provide a unique combination of durability, light weight, high strength and flexibility to high value consumer goods and other applications. PU thermosets have grown to a global market of 50 billion €, ultimately resulting in high volumes of waste mostly disposed via landfill or incineration as the SOA of the recycling technology is limited. PUReSmart will bridge the gap between the current PU linear economy to a circular model by designing smart polyurethane materials that can be reshaped into new products with undiminished quality. PUReSmart will provide solutions for the identified three scientific-technological urgent needs that require conceptual breakthroughs:
1) Smart DESIGN of covalent adaptable polyurethanes (CAPU) to bridge the gap between thermosets and thermoplastics, thanks to thermally reversible bonds; these CAPU are reprocessable, similarly to thermoplastics.
2) Smart SORTING, using the unique spectroscopic fingerprints of conventional PU and smart building blocks to create a validated and cost effective PU sorting platform with high specificity and sensitivity; this enables driving CAPUs to reprocessing and PU to chemolysis.
3) Smart CHEMOLYSIS with mass balanced and minimized input of virgin chemicals, maximal purity and efficient isolation of the obtained building blocks resulting in full re-utilization of all obtained fractions for PU or CAPUs;
PUReSmart will integrate CAPU chemistry with monomers obtained by next-generation chemolysis processes, using well-sorted feedstocks, aiming at scalable industrial products (TRL 5) with social and economic value assessed by a Life Cycle Analysis for ‘cyclic’ PU.
The project encompasses a concerted effort of partners along the value- and revalorization chain: PU producers, producers of the building blocks, technology providers for physical sorting, and research institutions focusing on design of new PU types and on innovative chemolysis methods for existing PU types.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Tema(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-NMBP-ST-IND-2018
Régimen de financiación
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinador
1831 DIEGEM
Bélgica