Shell Chemicals Europe B.V., one of the world’s leading chemicals suppliers, Pelma, an Italian manufacturer of flexible polyurethane foam, and Gruppo Industriale Buoninfante, a company that produces mattresses of Made in Italy excellence, celebrated this intent for a step towards a more sustainable future at Superstudio “Sustainability Engagement”; taking visitors through a sensorral and immersive experience to tell the journey of using biocircularraw material, recycled from used cooking oil, in the production of polyurethane foam through broadly accepted mass balancing principles. This foam becomes an essential component in the realization of the “sustainable mattress”. The installation project, inside the Gallery area in via Tortona 27, interprets the theme of circular economy: a large platform on the ground creates a dynamic volume made of shaped polyurethane foam blocks. The large wall is resolved with shaped elements in polyurethane with variable sections that give three-dimensionality and dynamism to the entire installation and contain the space dedicated to the story of the bio-circular supply chain. The story begins with the production of biocircular polyol, obtained from recycling used cooking oil, and explains the concept of mass balance through graphics and images. From the resulting polyol, a polyurethane foam is generated, which has the same physical-mechanical characteristics of the product obtained from conventional raw materials, with which, in the end, the more sustainable mattress is made.
Flexible polyurethane foam is the comfort material par excellence used in seats, pillows and mattresses. It is obtained through the reaction of two main chemical components: polyol and isocyanate mixed with water and with the addition of small amounts of catalysts and additives that contribute to determining specific characteristics of the material. The percentage of polyol in polyurethane foam is very high and can vary between 60 and 70% depending on the different formulations.
Shell Chemicals will provide Pelma with ISCC PLUS certified bio-circular polyol with each supply, providing the exact same properties as the product obtained from conventional raw materials. The International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is an independent, third-party verification organisation that tracks each step of the value chain, from the sourcing of sustainable resources to the manufacture of final products.
For the first time in Italy this polyol will be used by Pelma, one of the most qualified Italian producers of polyurethane foams, for the production of the new Bio Circular polyurethane that uses biocircular polyol. The Bio Circular polyurethane retains the same physical-mechanical characteristics as conventional products, but with a significant reduction of the product carbon footprint.
Pelma is the only Italian manufacturer of flexible polyurethane foam, and among the top 4 in the world, equipped with VPF technology – Variable Pressure Foaming – which uses vacuum and pressure as process variables, without any use of blowing agents harmful to the environment.
The Buoninfante Group has always been committed to acting in an eco-sustainable way, with a rigorous management of energy resources, raw materials and waste materials, and through the CIRCULIFE project has decided to intensify its efforts in a circular economy involving the company in every sector and in every process, to reduce the levels of resource consumption and promote the use of raw materials from responsible sources.
The intent to use Pelma’s biocircular polyurethane for the production of mattresses will allow the Buoninfante Group to further improve the ecological proposal of the X-Bio Circulife mattress, which recently obtained the prestigious Elected Product of the Year 2023 award. X-bio Circulife is the first mattress made with the upholstery obtained from recycled plastic bottles and now its sustainability will be further enhanced thanks to the use of polyurethane obtained from the recovery of used oils and materials of vegetable origin.
“This “circular” approach is the first step towards the production of an increasingly sustainable polyurethane declares Marco Pelucchi CEO of Pelma – Polyurethane is still an irreplaceable material for its characteristics and the vastness of the applications but the global approach of the entire production process is important: the management of energy resources, the optimization of raw materials, the rationalization of waste and, more generally, the reduction of the Carbon Footprint. The research goes on and soon it will be possible to recover raw material for our productions also directly from plastic”
“For some time we have decided to invest in a new circular model – says Enzo Buoninfante, CEO of Gruppo Industriale Buoninfante – We aim to reach, by 2025, the goal of 100% eco-sustainability through our philosophy of “Reduce – Reuse – Recycle” which aims to reduce the levels of consumption of resources, promote the use of only materials from responsible sources and recover materials to which it is possible to give a second life”.
