Case study: Recycling PU foam cans

An intelligent industry solution

The challenge.

Legislation classifies used PU foam cans as hazardous waste. For this reason, PU foam cans cannot be disposed of in residual waste, yellow bags, mixed construction waste containers or scrap metal. But what to do with the cans? European PU foam can manufacturers that produce for the German market have accepted their product responsibility by founding PDR.

The solution.

PDR offers a comprehensive take-back system and a recycling solution for used PU foam cans. In this way, PDR ensures uncomplicated collection and material recycling.

To make it as easy as possible for consumers / users to return the cans, our industry solution is based on the following elementary services:

Approx. 3,000 return points that can be found using our online zip code search conveniently with our online postcode search.
A dedicated service center with competent contact persons for order processing, acquisition and advice. Our employees have a special flair for sensitizing customers to the topic of recycling.
Germany-wide small parts logistics: We are keen to offer our customers local service while keeping CO2 emissions as low as possible.
We promote the industry solution with target group-specific information material.

The recycling plant.

We have built the only plant in the world that can recycle over 95% of returned PU foam cans, around 80% of which are recyclable. Our big plus: we not only recycle the packaging, but also the remaining contents of the cans. In the recycling process, we obtain the products PU prepolymer (PREPUR®) and propellant gas (TRIGAS®) as well as the raw materials plastic regrind PE / PP, tinplate and aluminum.

PU prepolymer and propellant gas are reused in the production of construction foam. In this way, we ensure that the raw materials are returned to the production cycle.

The know-how.

A life cycle assessment carried out by external institutes put our approach to the test and proved it: From an ecological point of view, our system - especially the consistent recycling of the residual contents - is clearly superior to all other processes. This is because they only recycle the packaging, but incinerate the residual contents.

30 years of operating experience and a process-oriented management system guarantee reliable safety.

We are certified in accordance with DIN ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety management system) and make no compromises:

in the treatment and storage of hazardous waste
in the storage of flammable gases and liquids
in the implementation of the basic obligations of the Hazardous Incident Ordinance
in the consistent implementation of the Hazardous Substances Ordinance
observing the dangerous goods regulations (ADR) when transporting goods
compliance with explosion, fire and water protection regulations