Vipriscar
New non-isocyanate polyurethanes and non-toxic polycarbonates from biorefineries.
Vegan Leather is a member of CrossRoads2: Sustainable Energy, which is financed by Interreg V Flanders-Netherlands, the cross-border cooperation programme with financial support from the European Regional Development Fund.
The Problem
Toxicity of isocyanate polyurethanes
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non-recyclability of such polyurethanes
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Waste disposal of mattresses
A deeper dive into the problem
Isosorbide (IS) is still a low market volume bio-based chemical, but with a high Cumulative Annual Growing Rate of 10.9%. The use of isosorbide (IS) in the manufacturing of intermediate building blocks and high volume polymers, such as polycarbonates, has some drawbacks that could be overcome by using isosorbide bis(methyl carbonate) (IBMC), a barely explored IS secondary building block which is proposed to enhance IS value chain. VIPRISCAR has validated a highly-efficient IBMC production process in an industrially relevant environment (TRL 5) able to be up-scaled and produce, under suitable market conditions, IBMC at a similar price to that of current oil-based monomers used in polycarbonates and polyurethanes. The project also shows a proof of principle for the added value IBMC brings to the market by demonstrating the usefulness of polymers derived thereof in three high-volume market sectors: industrial coatings, hot-melt adhesives, and biomedicine (antithrombotic-antimicrobial catheters).
The Solution
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Industry
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A deeper dive into the solution
How Vipriscar helps to grow the New Plastics Economy
The New Plastics Economy will not fall from heaven, it will grow from the soil. In the case of Vipriscar it is European soil.
The Value Chain
Steps in the value chain
Raw material production
Manufacture
and use
Disposal
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1
Raw Material
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2
Monomer production
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3
Polymer production
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4
Plastic conversion
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5
Production of plastic products
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6
Use
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7
Collection/ sorting and recycling
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8
End of life
This project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 790440.
