Recycled, renewable and reprocessable insulating foams (3ReFoam)

In households, energy consumption is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and approximately 60% of the energy used is for heating. Effective insulation materials are therefore imperative for sustainability. Current thermal insulation plastics are predominantly petroleum based and their waste streams are linear.

We aim to design energy-saving closed-loop recyclable thermal insulation foams from low carbon footprint building-blocks.

As resource, we will combine building-blocks from renewable resources with open loop recycled molecules recovered by chemical recycling of single-use plastics. The plastics that are produced in the largest volumes and contributing mostly to accumulation of plastic waste.

The closed-loop recyclability is achieved by utilizing reversible dynamic crosslinking chemistries for creation of foamed covalent adaptable networks.

The dynamic crosslinks impart thermal and mechanical long-term performance during use, at the same time as they provide reprocessability and refoamability after use – closing the loop on thermal insulating foams.

Utilizing plastic waste and renewable resources in the production of closed-loop recyclable thermal insulating foams reduces energy losses and counteracts waste accumulation and depletion of fossil resources. The principals of green chemistry will guide all process steps.