Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Unilin is creating circular, recyclable insulation boards. The second-most crucial ingredient in PIR insulation boards, after MDI, is 100% circular polyol, which is only found in Utherm Next insulation boards. Furthermore, the design of the board ensures that it will be completely recyclable in the future.
The difficulty?
PIR insulation boards aren’t completely round yet. The answer lies in chemical recycling, however, this technology is currently not scalable enough for broad application. But the technology is developing positively.
The answer?
The sole alternative, if there is no recycling procedure, is to design insulation boards so that they can be recycled in the future. Unilin continues to search for methods to improve the sustainability of the board itself in the meantime.
Unilin accomplishes this by:
An alternative to petroleum?
Making PIR insulation boards more sustainable and reducing their so-called life cycle analysis (LCA) is their biggest difficulty. This figure illustrates how a product affects the environment. Arno: “In the future, fossil fuels must be eliminated from our insulation boards. The foam of an insulation board currently consists of two chemical components, polyol and MDI, that use petroleum as a raw material. We carried out a raw material screening to identify more sustainable alternatives.”
A more sustainable substitute is currently unavailable, although MDI makes up 60% of the foam layer. The Arno: “That is why we examined whether the polyol, which provides 30% of the foam layer, could be replaced with biobased or recycled content. Eventually, we found one supplier of a circular polyol that consists of both recycled polyol and biobased material. The recycled polyol is sourced from recycled PET plastic. The biobased material is sugars from a restroom in the agro-industry. These ferment into a liquid molecule, which reacts with the PET to form a single entity.”
With circular polyol as a substitute
Berre ran several experiments on the production line to see if the circular polyol was a good substitute. Berre: “A key parameter in the evaluation was the uncontrolled expansion of the board during production. This must be limited as much as possible, and just one specific type of polyol possesses this characteristic. In late 2023, our team started producing and optimising the insulation board with the new polyol. First of all, we had to develop the right technique to process the new raw materials into a quality foam. We succeeded in May.”
Free of halogen
Berre investigated a more eco-friendly substitute for the traditional flame retardant using halogens in addition to the circular polyol. “A halogen-free flame retardant was added to the circular polyol. Halogens include substances such as chlorine and fluorine, which are very noxious during combustion.”
Recycling is facilitated by various protective layers
A third modification that guarantees Utherm Next’s future complete recyclable status is the addition of a modified protective layer (facer) to the foam layer. Arno: “At the moment, the PIR insulation boards are not yet ready for recycling on an industrial scale because our production lines are not yet fitted with the proper technology. It is still under development, but we’ll get there eventually. Meanwhile, we are already working on ways to make our insulation boards easier to recycle. That is why Utherm Next now uses aluminium as a facer. That is easier to separate from the foam layer and provides better recycling results than the current multilayer fabric.”
A better layer of foam
Berre was also responsible for the aluminum fabricator’s testing. “The face gives stability to the insulation board and limits warping. The aluminium facer proved to be a good alternative and even brought an unexpected improvement. The foam layer now has a better fire rating: D instead of E/F. The factor makes it easier to spot imperfections in the foam layer. That is why it is crucial to use the right process parameters so those imperfections can be avoided. A fine example of our pursuit of excellence through innovation and pushing boundaries.”
In the end, Arno’s study and Berre’s thorough testing produced a new product that already has a lesser environmental impact and looks forward to becoming a fully recyclable product in the future.
Unilin is dedicated to carrying out its duty in every way to contribute to the development of a better, more sustainable world.
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