Making polyurethane raw materials from old bottles

Abstract

Polyurethanes are exceptionally versatile. The materials, formed by reacting polyols with diisocyanates, can be made into skateboard wheels, rigid structures for cars, memory foam for mattresses, and insulation for refrigerators and buildings. But the nature of polyurethanes—custom blends of molecules bound tightly and often irreversibly with cross-links—makes recycling them a challenge compared with thermoplastics like polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polypropylene, which can be melted down again. Plastics producers have attempted to boost the sustainability of polyurethanes with greener inputs, such as polyols derived from soybean oil. Huntsman is taking a similar strategy, except in its case it is making polyurethanes more sustainable in a way that helps address the broader plastic waste problem: by using polyols derived from recycled plastics. The company just opened a plant in Taiwan that makes its Terol aromatic polyester polyols from postconsumer PET bottles. The 22,000-metric-ton-per-year plant is its second to use the technology. Huntsman