Covestro has opened a pilot plant at its Leverkusen site in Germany for the chemical recycling of high-performance polyurethane elastomers, backed by what it discloses only as a double-digit million-euro investment. The process breaks selected end-of-life Vulkollan material down into purified chemical building blocks. The company says more than 90% of the material by mass can be recycled, with a carbon footprint up to two-thirds lower than fossil-based virgin material. No date has been given for commercial-scale deployment.
Vulkollan is used where cast elastomers earn their place: forklift wheels, railway buffer elements, automotive jounce bumpers and vibration-control components. These are long-service industrial parts, and they leave service in identifiable streams rather than as mixed consumer waste.