Plastics & Rubber
Breaking plastics down into their building blocks
Depolymerization, also known as solvolysis, is the preferred recycling route for waste streams such as polyurethanes (e.g. from mattresses) and polyamides – provided that sufficient volumes of high‑quality waste streams are available. In this process, plastic waste is broken down into its original monomers.
The result is a highly pure monomer that can be flexibly used to manufacture a wide range of plastic products. This enables consistently high product quality and sustainably strengthens the circular use of plastics.
When is depolymerization the right solution?
Depolymerization is particularly suitable for homogeneous and well-sorted plastic waste streams, such as polyurethanes from mattresses or polyamides from defined waste streams.
The better the quality, purity and availability of the waste streams, the more efficiently the depolymerization process can be implemented.
Contribution to the Circular Economy
Depolymerization helps close plastic loops at monomer level by breaking polymers down into their original building blocks, enabling a material quality comparable to virgin. The process complements other recycling technologies and is particularly suited for selected, well-defined plastic types where consistent quality is essential.
See how BASF is putting depolymerization into practice:
From old to new: PA6 Depolymerization
BASF, Mercedes-Benz, and ZF Group have teamed up to do something pretty cool: demonstrating how even heavily used and contaminated plastic parts made from Polyamid 6 (PA6) can be recycled into virgin like polymer compounds at pilot scale using a recycling method called depolymerization. Normally, these parts would just get burned. Now? They get a second chance.
From textile to textile: Converting old polyamide fabrics into new raw material
We are recycling end-of-life textiles at a molecular level ready to be transformed into brand new, premium fabrics. loopamid® is the recycled polyamide 6 based entirely on textile waste. This is true recycling, the first step to a circular economy for textiles. By reprocessing old textiles into new fibers, yarns, fabrics, garments and garment accessories, we reduce the demand for virgin materials and mitigate the environmental burden of waste.
More information about loopamid®.
Find loopamid® on LinkedIn.
Turn old into new: Recycling of used mattresses made of flexible polyurethane
BASF has developed a wet chemical recycling process for used mattresses made of flexible polyurethane. Initial small-scale trials have been very promising. The original polyols can be recovered from the used mattress foams and used again to produce high-quality flexible foam blocks. The quality of these flexible foam blocks made from recycled polyurethane are equivalent to those made from conventional materials from fossil raw material sources. Thus, high-quality new mattresses can be produced from alternative polyurethane.