Shaping A Sustainable Future For A Common Plastic

Polyurethane is one of the world’s most widely used plastic materials, but it’s often overlooked in our daily lives. Yet whether you’re at home, at work or in your vehicle, it is usually not far away, with common end uses ranging from mattresses and furniture cushioning to building insulation, car parts and even the soles of shoes.

But as with other plastics that go largely unrecycled, the widespread use of polyurethane is generating concerns about its environmental impact. To better understand the opportunities for recovering polyurethane for recycling and for replacing the chemicals used in its production with plant-based alternatives, researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University and The Dow Chemical Company joined together to conduct the first comprehensive assessment of “Material Flows of Polyurethane in the United States.” The study was recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

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Source: https://www.messagetoeagle.com/shaping-a-sustainable-future-for-a-common-plastic/