How is polyurethane foam recycled?

Polyurethane foam manufacturers first approached the solid waste problem by find more efficient ways to produce these products. By doing so, they tried to minimize the amount of process scrap. Though this helped minimize the amount of waste, 30% of all polyurethane foam still became scrap after cutting and shaping the foam in production. Without recycling, this caused not only an increase in waste, but an increase in cost for manufacturers.

As a result, manufacturers developed along side more efficient production methods, practical end-uses for scrap polyurethane foam since almost every piece of scrap is still recyclable. The majority of all polyurethane foam scrap is grounded into small particle sizes and made into bonded carpet underlay, also known as "rebond". The process is so successful that the demand for scrap now exceeds supply in North America. Bonded carpet underlay manufacturers currently use more than 400 million pounds of process scrap annually. Of that total, almost 300 million pounds are purchased from domestic companies. A large percentage of home furnishings manufacturers and others using polyurethane foam are not converting to their scrap into revenue.