From Construction Industry Waste to High-Performance Insulation: Sustainable Rigid Polyurethane Foams with Recycled Polyol

This study investigates the feasibility of incorporating chemically recycled polyol (glycolysate), derived from semi-rigid polyurethane waste from the building industry, into rigid PUF formulations intended for thermal insulation applications. Glycolysis was performed using a diethylene glycol-glycerol mixture (4:1) at 185 °C in the presence of a dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL) catalyst. The resulting glycolysate was characterized by a hydroxyl number of 590 mg KOH/g. Foams containing 5-50% recycled polyol were prepared and described in terms of foaming kinetics, cellular structure, thermal conductivity, apparent density, mechanical performance, dimensional stability, flammability, and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. The incorporation of glycolysate accelerated the foaming process, with the gel time reduced from 44 s to 16 s in the sample containing 40% recycled polyol, enabling a reduction in catalyst content. The substitution of up to 40% virgin polyol with recycled polyol maintained a high closed-cell content (up to 87.7%), low thermal conductivity (λ₁₀ = 26.3 mW/(m·K)), and dimensional stability below 1%. Additionally, compressive strength improvements of up to 30% were observed compared to the reference foam (294 kPa versus 208 kPa for the reference sample). Flammability testing confirmed compliance with the B2 classification (DIN 4102), while preliminary qualitative VOC screening indicated no formation of additional harmful volatile compounds in glycolysate-containing samples compared to the reference. The results demonstrate that glycolysate can be effectively utilized in high-performance insulation materials, contributing to improved resource efficiency and a reduced carbon footprint.