Recypur Eco, based in in L’Alcúdia, Spain, will have the ability to turn 1.2 tons of industrial and post-consumer foam waste from old mattresses into new PU foam every hour, following the installation of a new airlay line.

It has been successfully started up after installation and commissioning by Andritz, and in a well-proven process will contribute to reducing environmental impact and the use of polyurethane while increasing self-sufficiency for local bedding manufacturers.

Specifically for the bedding and furniture industry, the recycled materials have heights of up to 20cm and densities of up to 120 kg/m³. Experimental tests carried out by Recypur Eco with experts from Andritz Laroche led to the conclusion that the mechanical method for recycling polyurethane is the most versatile and reliable.

Such a set-up also allows multiple functional materials to be incorporated into the blend, such as flame-retardant, conductive and insulating fibres, among others. Thanks to this tailored approach, Recypur is now able to expand its diversification for the Spanish market.

The installation consists of a blending line with five feeders, an Exel 1500 card for fine opening, a 2.2-metre-wide Airlay Flexiloft+ unit, a recycling machine and an oven.

Airlay lines strongly support the circular economy and are part of comprehensive Andritz product portfolio of sustainable solutions that help customers achieve their own sustainability goals in terms of climate and environmental protection.

“In the treatment of this waste, we knew that we could rely on the high level of expertise from Andritz,” said Tomás Zamora, innovation director at Recypur. “The company has fully supported our R&D team in its technical centre by using 100% of the foam coming from end-of-life mattresses and sofas. Thanks to this state-of-the-art new equipment, we have succeeded in finding the exact required solution for the mechanical recycling of mattresses. Now 250kg of CO2 is saved for each ton manufactured by our company as compared to manufacturing virgin polyurethane”.

Recypur, based in the Spanish province of Valencia, is part of Delax, a Spanish group specialised in manufacturing beds and mattresses. The company is the first Spanish manufacturer of recycled flexible polyurethane foam cores from post-consumer foam waste.

www.andritz.com