Descrizione del progetto
Produzione sostenibile di poliuretano grazie a polioli ecologici a basso costo
Data la sua natura versatile, il poliuretano è utilizzato in un’ampia gamma di applicazioni, dai sedili delle automobili ai tessuti e alle abitazioni. Ogni anno, si producono oltre 23 milioni di tonnellate di poliuretano a partire da due materie prime provenienti dalla raffinazione del petrolio: i polioli e gli isocianati. Le preoccupazioni ambientali per i prodotti ottenuti dalla raffinazione del petrolio stanno sostenendo la crescita di polioli ecocompatibili. Le applicazioni, tuttavia, sono limitate alle sole soluzioni di fascia alta a causa del loro prezzo elevato. Il progetto ECO-POL, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di commercializzare un poliolio ecocompatibile ottenuto da materie prime rinnovabili e PET di bassa qualità. La combinazione di un processo autocatalitico proprietario con materie prime estremamente economiche metterà in evidenza il potenziale dei polioli verdi in sostituzione di quelli a base di petrolio in praticamente tutte le applicazioni.
Obiettivo
Polyurethane (PU) is one of the most popular plastic in the world and is everywhere around us, from our car’s seats to the insulating material used in our homes and clothes. Every year more than 23 million tons of PU are produced from two raw materials coming from oil refining: polyols and isocyanates. This is posing relevant concerns to PU manufacturers, especially because their customers are “going green”, avoiding the use of oil-derived product as much as possible. Eco-polyols have long been seen as a solution to these issues, driving a steep growth of the green polyols industry. However, bio polyols are only adequate for specific applications and their price (>2€/kg) make them suitable only for high-end solutions. To capture this huge market opportunity, at PolyLabs we have developed ECO-POL, a novel eco-polyol obtained from renewable raw material and from low grade PET which is otherwise impossible to recycle. The combination of our proprietary autocatalytic process with extremely low cost raw materials allowed us to demonstrate the feasibility of an extremely versatile polyol which can replace oil-based ones in practically all applications. And at the same market price (1.4 – 1.5 €/kg). Through this SME Instrument project we plan to scale up our process and manufacturing capacity to meet the needs of the European PU industry, targeting an initial production of 10,000 – 15,000 tonnes/year which will be replicated in several countries as long as the local market demand grows. We are an innovative chemical company established in close partnership with the scientific Institute of Wood Chemistry of Latvia (IWC) to produce bio-based polyol for the PU industry, and we are already commercialising more than 300 tons/year of our first generation eco-polyols. Through this innovation project we aim to reach customers as, Huntsman, Covestro, Audi, Basf, Dow, Dupont reaching a target of 14,000 tonnes of product sold by 2023, for a turnover exceeding 20 M€.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Meccanismo di finanziamento
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinatore
1004 RIGA
Lettonia
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.