InfiChem Polymers unveils technology for recycling polyurethanes

InfiChem Polymers LLC (ICP) recently announced that it is the first in North America to implement a process that converts polyurethane scrap foam into new green polyols (trademarked INFIGREEN Polyols) for polyurethanes.  

The process was developed by the founders of ICP, and initial research was funded in part through the Cooperative Research and development Agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, the Vehicle Recycle Partnership of the U.S. Council for Automotive Research, and the Automotive Group of the American Chemistry Council – Plastics Division.  

ICP’s technology is based on a glycolysis process which chemically depolymerizes polyurethanes into liquid initiators, which are used to produce the INFIGREEN Polyols. The first generation of INFIGREEN Polyols have greater than 60 percent recycled content and are the first commercially available polyols of this kind. INFIGREEN Polyols can be used in spray foams, flexible foams, elastomers and other applications.