11. Mar 2026
Covestro, Fraunhofer to build 2 kt smart-pyrolysis plant for rigid PU recycling
Materials manufacturer Covestro and the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental Safety and Energy Technology (UMSICHT) have signed a contract to establish a 2kt per year pilot plant for smart pyrolysis of rigid polyurethane foam waste.
Thie plant is expected to be operational by 2028. This agreement represents a significant step forward in scaling up the technology to transform insulation waste from appliances and construction into high-purity re-aniline. This re-aniline is then used to produce MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate). The resulting MDI meets the same purity standards as conventional MDI but boasts a carbon footprint up to 40%1 lower than conventional fossil-based production methods.
"The contract with Fraunhofer UMSICHT is a decisive step towards industrializing our smart pyrolysis technology," said Dr. Markus Dugal, head of process technology, Covestro. "This partnership combines our chemical and technology expertise with Fraunhofer's process engineering capabilities and assets to scale a technology that is able to prove chemical recyclability of end-of-life Polyurethane materials and that could fundamentally change how we source raw materials for MDI production. By recovering high-value molecules from waste streams, we're turning the circular economy from vision into reality while significantly reducing the carbon footprint of our products.”
Under the agreement, Fraunhofer UMSICHT will leverage its pyrolysis research expertise and existing chemical recycling infrastructure to implement and scale Covestro’s proprietary smart pyrolysis process. This pilot plant has an annual capacity to recycle 2,000 tonnes (2 kt) of end-of-life foam. The resulting aniline could then be used to produce insulation for approximately 200,000 refrigerators2. The new plant is slated to commence operations in mid-2028 and will primarily process rigid PUR/PIR foam waste from end-of-life insulation PU materials. This technology specifically targets rigid foam due to its notoriously difficult recycling challenges stemming from its crosslinked molecular structure.
Moving towards industrial implementation
"This project represents the culmination of several years of intensive joint research," said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Renner, head of Institute Fraunhofer UMSICHT. “It’s perfectly in line with Fraunhofer’s mission to bridge the gap between research and application: we are not just demonstrating technical feasibility but actively moving towards industrial implementation.”
Dr. Alexander Hofmann, head of thermochemical conversion technologies at Fraunhofer UMSICHT said: "The project is underpinned by our own research and technology developments in chemical recycling and downstream processing. The pilot plant will allow us to optimize process parameters at scale and provide sufficient material for further processing tests and market development.”
The smart pyrolysis process produces aniline with around 99% purity, ideal for creating recycled MDI that matches the quality of conventional MDI.
This development is significant given the projected growth of the MDI market for rigid foam in Europe. It is expected to rise from 1400 kt in 2025 to 1900 kt by 2035. This growth is fuelled by the increasing demand for energy-efficient insulation in buildings and refrigeration. However, EU regulations and market requirements are increasingly demanding scalable end-of-life solutions for PUR/PIR rigid foam. This poses a substantial challenge for the industry.
The technological development builds on extensive research within CIRCULAR FOAM, a flagship EU project coordinated by Covestro. This project, involving Fraunhofer UMSICHT and 23 other European partners, has seen successful laboratory and mini-plant scale demonstrations. The smart pyrolysis pilot plant marks a tentative step towards commercialisation.
Photo: Covestro Partners with Fraunhofer UMSICHT on Development of Smart Pyrolysis to Pilot Plant Scale © Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Sabrina Bauer
Covestro Solutions Center
1 Figures provided by Covestro/Fraunhofer. The carbon footprint was calculated for the recycled aniline produced by the smart pyrolysis process without using any credits for avoided incineration. With this value the CO₂ emission for MDI was calculated for the standard production process of Covestro.
2 Assuming ~8kg of PUR insulation per refrigerator