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Promotion: Swiss furniture brand Vitra has announced the development of a world-first easily recyclable polyurethane foam, developed in partnership with chemicals company BASF.
Titled V-Foam, the material was created to tackle one of the key sustainability challenges in furniture – the fact that standard polyurethane (PU) foam, commonly used in soft seating, is so costly and energy-intensive to recycle into new foam that it practically never is.
As a thermosetting polymer, standard PU foam hardens irreversibly once made, so it cannot be melted down for thermoforming or reshaping the way a readily recyclable plastic like polypropylene can.
PU foam can only be ground into a fine powder and mixed with more virgin material or broken down using chemical recycling – a process that is associated with high energy use and expenditure and is controversial among environmental campaigners.
With V-Foam, however, Vitra and BASF say they have successfully made a foam that is meltable so it can be reshaped into new foam in a closed-loop cycle that requires little energy.
Vitra claims the method is a form of mechanical recycling, but one where the foam is transformed into new compounds on a molecular level using an "innovative process". The company said that due to patent protection, it cannot give any more details about what the process involves.
Vitra is calling the innovation "the world's first economically recyclable polyurethane foam" and intends to start rolling it out across its moulded foam parts this year.
"We strive to achieve a closed material cycle for our product lines," said Vitra's global head of technics Harald Gerwig. "With the new PU foams, we can finally produce recyclable upholstery for our office chairs, lounge chairs and sofas."
"All previously developed recycling methods for PU foams are very energy intensive and therefore economically unviable. The new PU foam offers cost-effective recycling in the medium- and long-term as well as new design possibilities."
V-Foam represents the culmination of Vitra's long hunt for a recyclable alternative to foam for use in its office chairs, armchairs and sofas.
"We have repeatedly searched for other recyclable upholstery materials, but there is simply no equivalent alternative," said Gerwig. "On the one hand, it was only possible to produce new composite foams by shredding used foams into flakes, which are then compressed and bonded with adhesives. However, this type of material is not suitable for upholstery. It can be used for soundproofing applications or as a filler."
"On the other hand, PU foam could be chemically recycled back into its individual components, but this requires so much energy that the process is not economically viable," Gerwig continued.
With V-Foam, the material is either liquefied to make new PU foam or processed into granules for the production of injection-moulded components.
Vitra says the material is recycled without compromising its properties and that there will be a takeback scheme to manage the collection and processing of post-consumer foam.
The company has the exclusive right to use the new foam in the furniture sector for the first year from the start of production. After that, it will be available to order from BASF, one of the world's largest chemicals and plastics companies.
Gerwig hopes that as many companies as possible end up making their products from the material, including in the mattress and automotive industries, "so that one day only this type of PU foam will be available for recycling".
"The sole disadvantage of PU foams has been eliminated," said Gerwig. "In my opinion, there is no better upholstery material."
"This closes the material loop and conserves resources: we take existing raw materials and create new plastics from their recyclates."
According to Gerwig, Vitra has been developing products with BASF since the 1960s, when the companies worked together to create the Panton Chair – the first-ever cantilever seating design made from a single piece of plastic.
The furniture brand is investigating innovative and sustainable production methods and recently launched a disassemblable, modular sofa made with no glue and little foam.
