About the project
Rigid polyurethane (PU) foams are effective insulation materials that are widely used in cooling appliances and in construction: roof and wall insulation, insulated windows, doors and air barrier sealants. Each year, mountains of end-of-life polyurethane are incinerated or put in landfill because mechanical recycling is not possible. The target of the CIRCULAR FOAM project was to contribute to reversing this trend by developing a cross-sectoral systemic solution to make these rigid foams circular.
The core objectives were:
To develop chemical recycling technologies that transform end-of-life foam into virgin-quality raw materials.
To establish integrated value chains covering waste collection, smart sorting, chemical recycling, and remanufacturing with digital tracking and economically viable logistics.
To develop a transferable collaboration model for replication across European regions, supporting the transformation of the current waste problem into valuable resources through governance, policy, business models, and stakeholder outreach strategies.
Figure 1: Rigid polyurethane Insulation board (© Covestro Deutschland AG)
Description of success
CIRCULAR FOAM has achieved a wide range of successes across its lifetime. Firstly, the project has focused on further developing new chemical recycling processes for rigid PU foam. Using smart pyrolysis (an advanced thermal process that breaks down PU foam) it was possible to recover key components such as amine from used foams. These recovered substances were successfully tested for reuse in refrigerators and as an equivalent alternative to fossil raw materials. This demonstration showed that a closed loop for these materials is technically feasible.
A systemic approach was also used to analyse and optimise all steps involved in recycling rigid PU foams, from recovery from refrigerators and collection of construction waste to chemical recycling. The overall structure of the system was optimised by selecting the number, locations and sizes of the plants for the various steps in order to minimise costs.
Important progress was also made in digitalisation. Blockchain digital passports were developed for products that make information about material compositions available along the entire value chain while protecting sensitive company data. Initial applications showed how these passports specifically support collection, sorting and recycling.
In addition, regional stakeholders from industry, research, and public administration were brought together and networked across three model regions: North Rhine‑Westphalia (Germany), Upper Silesia (Poland), and Metropolitan Region Amsterdam (the Netherlands). The regions are at different stages of transformation, which helped to identify sustainable transformation paths and strategies for a regional circular economy that are flexible and comprehensive enough to upscale to other regions in Europe.
Overall, life cycle analyses ultimately demonstrated that the approaches developed can avoid CO₂ emissions in the long term and save considerable disposal costs. CIRCULAR FOAM thus impressively demonstrated how technological innovation, digital solutions and regional cooperation can work together to enable a true circular economy for PU.
Figure 2: Rigid polyurethane foam circular economy diagram (© DECHEMA e.V.)
Highlights
CIRCULAR FOAM achieved major breakthroughs in rigid polyurethane foam recycling, previously limited to incineration or landfilling.
The project developed chemical recycling pathways producing virgin-equivalent materials, with smart pyrolysis achieving >99.5% purity recycled aniline, far exceeding existing approaches.
CIRCULAR FOAM delivered commercially close-to-ready solutions with smart pyrolysis at 10 kg/h pilot scale.
Most significantly, the project demonstrated true closed-loop recycling for previously non-recyclable waste, with recycled materials meeting fossil-based quality standards.
Blockchain-based digital passports enable secure traceability throughout 10-50-year lifecycles.
The integrated systems approach creates complete regional circular ecosystems beyond single-technology solutions.
The comprehensive regional blueprint includes implementation guidelines, LCA and techno-economic calculations, and policy recommendations for Europe-wide replication. Digital tools will be fully operational and integrated with industry systems.
Outputs
CIRCULAR FOAM has created a range of materials to support its work with circular PU. For example, it has developed a roadmap for achieving a circular system for PU rigid foam by 2050 and videos that introduce CIRCULAR FOAM and provide insights into its activities. The project has developed education and training materials on "Rethinking Plastics - Workbook on Sustainability Challenges, Circular Solutions, and Scenario Analysis" that are available in English, Dutch, German and Polish
The project has also published a report on optimising the overall circular recycling system, its environmental impact reduction potential, and economic performance. Further public reports on results of the project are available here on the CIRCULAR FOAM website.
Impact
CIRCULAR FOAM contributes to the EU Green Deal by showing how a difficult waste stream can become a valuable circular resource. Its work demonstrates the technical feasibility of recycling rigid polyurethane foams into high-quality materials, helping to reduce reliance on fossil-based raw materials. The project’s long-term impact includes:
Environmental: Eliminating 2.9 million tons annual CO2 emissions and preventing one million tons of waste by 2040.
Economic: Benefits include €150 million annual savings in avoided incineration costs, new revenue streams, and job creation, while strengthening European competitiveness.
Social and systemic: CIRCULAR FOAM delivered sustainable products with transparent sustainability information, demonstrating the feasibility of transitioning from a linear to circular economy. It created new collaboration models between industry, academia, and the public sector, with policy recommendations already influencing EU legislation.
Lessons
Circular economy solutions require comprehensive systemic thinking: addressing technology, infrastructure, policy, and stakeholder engagement simultaneously rather than focusing on individual components.
The innovative chemical recycling solutions that were developed in the project have been technically proven as effective options. However, achieving a breakthrough at scale, with significant benefits for the environment, society and the economy, requires the mobilisation of the entire value chain and co-ordinated policymaking across multiple governance levels to facilitate successful deployment and scale-up of the technologies. The CIRCULAR FOAM partners have made seven main policy recommendations.
