Project description
A novel extrusion technology for making eco-friendly plastics
The construction industry uses more than 8 million tonnes of extruded plastic materials each year, but they often suffer from premature failure due to weathering, mechanical stress, and high temperatures. The EU-funded EXTRU-PUR project has designed and patented a disruptive extrusion technology to produce the first ever extruded products made of thermoset polyurethane. Incorporating this material is expected to increase extruded plastic durability by at least 50 %, thermal resistance by 200 %, thermal and acoustic insulation by 100 %, and mechanical strength by 30 %. Moreover, through the use of biobased Polyurethane (BioPUR) with 40-50 % of biobased content, and a novel low energy-consuming extrusion technology, a carbon footprint decrease of 60-70 % is expected.
Objective
The EU construction sector consume up to 9.4Mtons of plastic per year of which 92% are thermoplastics, mainly PVC with 54%, while thermoset plastics present superior technical properties that allow them to reach longer lifespan, a key advantage in a sector where material lifespan should reach 50 years. To do so, INDRESMAT, a chemical start-up focused on the development of high performance and sustainable construction products participating in “Redefining Chemistry”, an International Incubation Program in Brightlands Chemelot Campus, an entrepreneurial ecosystem focused on green chemistry, sustainable materials and circular economy, has developed EXTRU PUR. It is a simple, robust, efficient and versatile technology that manufactures simple geometrized products of constant section and indefinite length (2D products) made from thermoset Polyurethane (PUR), enabling a large scale manufacture of high added-value plastics widely used in construction such as profiles, frames, pipes, etc. The incorporation of PUR as structural material in extruded plastics will provide: >50% higher durability, >200%, thermal resistance increase, >100% thermal and acoustic insulation increase and >30% mechanical strength increase. The market entry will be performed with PUR profiles/frames products within the windows market, representing the major market share (28%) of extruded construction plastics with a 3 B€/y of revenue in EU. After market entry, the strategy will be replicated to pipes applications (22%), and later with other similar 2D products where PVC is the dominant material, a low sustainable plastic still questioned by the EU due to different environmental and geopolitical considerations since American and Asian PVC industries dominate over EU plastic industries.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineering
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energy
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsbiofuels
- engineering and technologycivil engineeringarchitecture engineeringsustainable architecturesustainable building
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
08907 L´HOSPITALET DE LLOBREGAT
Spain
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.