As the second most used plastic in passenger vehicles, polyurethanes play a crucial role in reducing vehicle weight, improving acoustics, and enhancing thermal insulation. While these properties directly boost fuel efficiency and extend electric driving ranges, EURO MOULDERS’ latest publication highlights the critical next step: addressing emissions generated during the chemical manufacturing of the material itself.
The industry is doing tremendous efforts to reduce emissions from raw materials, including Scope 1 & 2 emissions consequently lowering the carbon footprint of PU parts themselves through innovation, circularity and new raw materials. This is especially relevant for automotive interiors, where polyurethane is used in many comfort and safety-related parts. Lower carbon footprint PU foams are therefore an important step for the foam industry and a meaningful contribution to lower-carbon-emission interiors.
Today, more than 90% of the carbon footprint of polyurethanes comes from the chemical raw materials used. Transitioning away from fossil-based materials to new alternative types of raw materials is the clear way forward. Beyond fulfilling the automotive sector’s performance needs, polyurethanes actively contribute to lower carbon emissions while unlocking further possibilities, such as:
- Bio-based polyols
Bio-based polyols are typically produced through the chemical modification of natural fats and oils. Common feedstocks include vegetable oils. They significantly reduce the carbon footprint compared to petroleum-based polyols, with some applications achieving reductions of around 50%. In terms of performance, they offer comparable thermal and mechanical properties to their fossil-fuel counterparts.
- Recycled polyols
Instead of drawing from virgin, fossil-fuel feedstock, chemical companies recover these molecules from PU foam that has reached its end of life, effectively introducing them back into a circular manufacturing loop. Manufacturing polyols from waste uses considerably less energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions significantly compared to extracting and refining crude oil to make virgin polyols. Typical repolyols on the market made from end-of-life polyurethane foam mattresses have a recycled content percentage of 40-45% by weight.
- Incorporating recycled content or bio-circular content from various waste
Integrating recycled or bio-circular waste (i.e. wood waste, agricultural residues, used cooking oils) into polyurethane foam radically improves its environmental profile by redirecting waste into the production cycle. This transition is economically and environmentally optimized through a mass balance approach, where circular or bio-circular feedstocks are blended directly into existing chemical infrastructure alongside virgin fossil inputs. This ensures lower carbon footprint for PU foam parts without sacrificing material performance or manufacturing efficiency.
- Developing new types of polyurethanes with a thermoplastic nature
The transition to a thermoplastic nature relies on reimagining the material’s molecular architecture to allow the polymer to melt and flow when heated and reform when cooled. Meltable PU parts at the end of a vehicle’s life can be ground up, melted down, and after a mechanical recycling-step re-moulded into new high-value components. This heavily reduces the carbon footprint by enabling a circular loop.
These developments are fully aligned with Europe’s ambition for zero-emission vehicles and the circularity objectives of the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation. Reducing the carbon footprint of vehicle parts must go hand in hand with increasing circularity, improving recyclability and integrating more recycled content. Designing car parts for a circular journey will matter just as much, which is exactly where eco-design comes into play. For instance, if components such as car seats are designed for easy disassembly, more polyurethane can be recovered and transformed into new raw materials, creating a strong and mature circular system.
For more information:
- Watch the video on our Youtube channel
- Download the Factsheet
- Contact Constance Rossi (c.rossi@europur.org)