ABOUT PROJECT
Closing the materials cycle for rigid polyurethane foams: This is the ambitious goal of the new pan-European “CIRCULAR FOAM” initiative. The EU-funded lighthouse project brings together 22 partners from 9 countries from industry, academia and society. Within four years, they want to jointly establish a complete material cycle for rigid polyurethane foams used as insulation material in refrigerators and the construction industry. Once implemented across Europe, the system could save 1 million tons of waste, 2.9 million tons of CO2 emissions, and 150 million euros in incineration costs annually, starting in 2040.
The project concentrates on the recycling of post-consumer refrigerators and construction waste in several selected model regions. This includes the industrial and coal-mining regions “Rheinisches Revier” in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Silesia in Poland, and Greater Amsterdam area in the Netherlands. The case studies will elaborate the potential of a blueprint systemic solution with potential of replication in other regions.
The CIRCULAR FOAM project is funded under the Green Deal Programme of the EC for building systemic solutions for a low-carbon climate-resilient future. Grant Agreement No. 101036854
The project leader: Covestro Deutschland AG
The project partners: Interseroh Dienstleistungs-GmbH, BT-Wolfgang Binder GmbH, Unilin BVBA, Electrolux Italia SPA, Circularise BV, BioBTX BV, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Technische Universität Dortmund, Stichting Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Stichting Nederlandse Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Insittuten, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angew. Forschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Gornoslasko-Zaglebiowska Metropolia (METR), Park Naukowo Technologiczny Euro-Centrum sp. z o.o., IZNAB Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia and DECHEMA Gesellschaft für Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e.V.
Scientific Manager of WUEB: dr hab. inż., prof. UEW Maja Zofia Kiba-Janiak
Project Manager of WUEB: Anna Smurzyńska
The duration of the project will be 48 months as of 1 October 2021
