ABSTRACT
All polyurethanes used for automotive production can be glycolyzed without any problems. This is also true for applications such as flexible foam for seating, energy-absorbing foam for knee bolsters, dashboard back-filling foam and thermoformable headliner polyurethane foam. A semi-rigid polyurethane integral foam is introduced between skin and support to provide a safety cushion. By far the most successful recycling story of all polyurethanes is the production of polyurethane rebonded foams from flexible foam production scrap and flexible foam sound-absorbing layers. Flexible foam production, and especially its subsequent fabrication to a myriad of shapes and parts, yields large quantities of process scrap, in the United States alone an estimated 125,000 to 135,000 tons annually. Chemolysis is true depolymerization applicable to the recycling of polyurethanes and other addition materials as well as condensation polymers such as polyesters and polyamides.
