Covestro and Interseroh to jointly establish value-adding cycles

Materials manufacturer Covestro and the environmental service provider Interseroh, a company of ALBA Group, intend to cooperate in the field of innovative recycling of plastic waste. This includes resistant plastic products made from Covestro materials, such as polyurethanes and polycarbonates. Therefore, the two partners have recently signed a memorandum of understanding.

For this reason, Interseroh intends to source and prepare the relevant materials derived from the end-of-life products and distribute them to Covestro for re-integration into the raw materials cycle; Covestro intends to use these end-of-life raw materials as feedstock leveraging their reycling expertise to turn plastic waste into high quality raw materials so as to close the loop.

"Our cooperation with Interseroh is an important milestone for the convergence of the chemical and recycling industries with the aim of building new value cycles for the circular economy," says Covestro CEO Dr. Markus Steilemann. "The success of the project will largely depend on our partner's recycling know-how and innovative recycling technologies that we are currently developing, but also on suitable regulatory framework conditions, especially for chemical recycling."

"Technological development and innovation are essential pillars of our work towards a future without waste," states Dr. Axel Schweitzer, CEO of ALBA Group. "In the light of the climate protection targets to be achieved, we must also find sustainable solutions for types of plastic that are difficult to recycle. We are pleased to be able to help shape developments here together with Covestro."

Plastic waste is a valuable resource

Plastics are indispensable and future-oriented materials. Thus, used products are also a valuable resource. That's why Covestro is working with partners to develop innovative recycling technologies and chemical processes in particular, to return plastics to the value cycle. The company is much committed to recovering used plastics and is also a member of the global company network "Alliance to End Plastic Waste."

However, much more needs to be done to achieve an effective and resource-efficient circular economy. For example, disposal and recycling systems must be improved worldwide or established in the first place. Here, Interseroh is a leading partner with many years of experience and extensive know-how. Both companies want to reduce the CO₂ footprint of production processes and products and thus contribute to climate and environmental protection. At the same time, they want to develop new circular business models.