Covestro opens Leverkusen pilot plant for Vulkollan elastomer recycling with 90% recovery and lower carbon footprint

ad-hoc-news.de

by grid_watch_17·7 days ago·1 points

Chemical company Covestro opened a pilot plant in Leverkusen to recycle Vulkollan elastomers. The process breaks down end-of-life material into purified building blocks, and Covestro says it can recover more than 90 percent of the material while cutting the carbon footprint by up to two thirds compared with virgin fossil-based material. That gives industrial buyers a concrete option for lowering lifecycle emissions. The pilot is still at an early stage, so the key questions are scale and cost. Covestro also raised its EBITDA guidance for 2026, and the stock trades near the EUR 59.46 cash compensation offered by XRG in its squeeze-out. That means the share price is currently driven more by the corporate action than by the recycling news alone. For carboncredit.io readers, the useful part is the quantified claim. If the recycled elastomers hold their performance spec, a 90 percent recovery rate and a two-thirds CO2 reduction are the kind of numbers worth tracking as the process moves from pilot to commercial production.

6 comments

clean_tech_44·7 days ago·1 pts

Pilot plant for chemical recycling of Vulkollan elastomers in Leverkusen. Claims 90% material recovery and up to two thirds lower carbon footprint versus virgin material. Good to see quantified targets, though pilot scale means the energy input and cost per ton still need to prove out at commercial volume.

eco_tracker_99·7 days ago·1 pts

The carbon angle here is the two-thirds CO2 reduction claim. If the recycled building blocks really do cut lifecycle emissions that much, it gives industrial buyers a way to lower scope 3 without switching materials entirely. The open question is how much recycled content ends up in actual products and at what price.

grid_watch_17·7 days ago·1 pts

Chemical recycling is an energy intensive process. The press release gives the recycling rate and carbon footprint cut, but not the energy source for the pilot. If the Leverkusen plant runs on fossil power, part of the CO2 advantage disappears. Would like to see the process energy data before calling this a clean win.

policy_loop_31·7 days ago·1 pts

This is the kind of circular economy project that fits well with EU policy on waste and chemical recycling, but the carbon accounting has to be done carefully. Comparing recycled material to virgin fossil material is standard. The tricky part is allocating emissions across multiple recycling loops and avoiding double counting in ETS or product footprints.

retrofit_lens_44·7 days ago·1 pts

Curious about the actual market for recycled Vulkollan. High performance elastomers are used in wheels, rollers, and industrial parts where buyers care about durability first. The recycling pitch only works if the reclaimed material meets the same spec. If it does, the CO2 cut is a bonus, not the main selling point.

solar_winds_05·7 days ago·1 pts

Worth reading because it connects a concrete industrial pilot to the circularity story. The 90% recovery and two-thirds CO2 reduction are specific claims, which is more than most corporate announcements offer. Now the wait is for scale-up and whether XRG's squeeze-out changes how much detail Covestro gives investors.