Nachhaltige Nachtruhe - Matratzen werden endlich recyclebar
Winner
Excellence in Business to Business
Chemical Industry
Details
Evonik is developing a new technology that enables the recycling of mattresses made from flexible polyurethane foam. Using an innovative hydrolysis process—essentially breaking the foam down with water—the company can recover the original raw materials used to produce the foam. Every year, around 40 million mattresses are thrown away in the EU alone, representing hundreds of thousands of tons of polyurethane waste. With this technology, that waste can now be transformed into valuable raw materials that help reduce reliance on fossil resources.
The Jury‘s Statement
The disposal of millions of polyurethane flexible foam mattresses each year represents a significant ecological challenge, generating large volumes of plastic waste. With an innovative hydrolysis process, Evonik has developed a forward-looking solution that enables valuable raw materials to be recovered from the foam and reintroduced into production. This process significantly reduces the consumption of fossil resources and supports the sustainability goals of numerous companies. The technology is not only economically viable and scalable, but also delivers high-quality materials whose properties match those of new raw materials. In doing so, Evonik paves the way for a circular economy in polymer processing and sets new benchmarks for sustainable innovation.
