EU project Circular Foam started with participation of the chair DYN
Closing the materials cycle for rigid polyurethane foams: This is the ambitious goal of the new pan-European “CIRCULAR FOAM” project. The EU-funded lighthouse project coordinated by Covestro brings together 22 partners from 9 countries from industry, academia and society. Within four years, the consortium will jointly establish a complete circular value chain for raw materials for rigid polyurethane foams used as insulation material in refrigerators and the construction industry. Once implemented across Europe, the system could help to save 1 million tons of waste, 2.9 million tons of CO2 emissions, and 150 million euros in incineration costs annually, starting in 2040.
The CIRCULAR FOAM project aims at bringing multiple improvements to the existing material cycle and build a new sustainable circular ecosystem for rigid polyurethane foam: The project will not only focus on the development of two novel chemical recycling routes for end-of-life materials but also help set up and demonstrate logistics and waste collection systems and dismantling and sorting solutions. Also the design of future products and materials for enhanced recyclability will be considered. The different elements will be combined into an optimized systemic solution.
The project concentrates on the recycling of post-consumer refrigerators and construction waste in several selected model regions. These include the industrial and coal-mining regions “Rheinisches Revier” in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Silesia in Poland, as well as the Greater Amsterdam region in The Netherlands.
Prof. Sebastian Engell (Head of the Process Dynamics and Operations Group in the BCI Faculty) was involved in the development of the project proposal and will lead the work package on Integrated System Analysis and Design. The total financial volume of the project is 19 M€, the BCI Faculty will receive 760.000 € funding over the next 4 years.
More information: www.circular-foam.eu