Dow and Adient launch bio-attributed PU seating foam

The companies said the flexible molded foam is designed to provide comfort and resilience comparable with conventional automotive seating foam while supporting vehicle manufacturers’ efforts to reduce their use of fossil resources.

Under the mass-balance approach, bio-circular raw materials are introduced into Dow’s production system and their contribution is allocated to particular products through certified accounting. This does not necessarily mean that the renewable feedstock can be physically identified or measured in an individual piece of finished seat foam.

“This collaboration underscores Dow’s commitment to advancing sustainable mobility through materials science innovation. By launching Specflex REN, we are enabling our partners to integrate renewable feedstocks into the polyurethane seating value chain through an ISCC Plus certified mass balance approach without compromising performance, supporting their decarbonization goals,” said Selamawit Belli, MobilityScience marketing manager at Dow.

Dow said the bio-circular attributed feedstocks have a lower carbon footprint than conventional fossil-based alternatives, although the company did not provide a quantified reduction for the new seating solution.

Specflex REN is intended to allow automotive manufacturers and suppliers to adopt attributed renewable feedstocks without changing the performance expected from conventional polyurethane seat foam. Dow and Adient said they are working to increase the use of such materials across automotive applications.

“Collaborations like this are critical to translating innovation into scalable impact. At Adient, partnering with leaders like Dow enables us to incorporate renewable and bio-circular attributed feedstocks into advanced seating solutions—without compromising performance—helping advance sustainability objectives within the automotive industry,” said Brooke Bowers, executive director of global sustainability at Adient.

Dow and Adient have previously collaborated on lower-carbon automotive seating materials. Their projects include work with Jaguar Land Rover to incorporate recycled polyol made from end-of-life polyurethane seat foam into new molded seating foam.

Adient produces complete automotive seating systems as well as foam, trim, structures and mechanisms. The company has more than 65,000 employees and approximately 200 manufacturing and assembly plants in 29 countries.

Photo: an AI-generated render of an automotive interior for illustrative purposes only

Dow

Adient