Covestro opens first production plant for plastics made with CO2

Covestro has officially opened a plant for the production of plastics using carbon dioxide on an industrial scale.

On Friday 17th June, the company unveiled a production plant for an innovative foam component made with 20 percent CO2 at its Dormagen site near Cologne, Germany.

It says the new process saves a proportional amount of the traditional oil-based raw material, thus making a contribution to sustainability that Covestro believes offers considerable potential.

“We have to change the way we look at CO2, and we will. Using it as an alternative source of raw materials is a solution to some of the biggest challenges of our time – finding a replacement for finite fossil resources such as oil and gas and closing material cycles,” said Covestro CEO Patrick Thomas at the opening ceremony, which was attended by more than 150 guests from business, science and politics.

The company has invested some EUR 15 million in the new plant, which has an annual production capacity of 5,000 metric tons. The CO2 used is a waste product from a neighboring chemical company.

The new CO2-based polyol has been engineered initially for flexible polyurethane foam intended for use in mattresses and upholstered furniture. In terms of quality, Covestro says the foam achieves at least the same high standards as conventional material produced using only petrochemical raw materials, i.e. crude oil.