Covestro: Adient reduces CO₂ emissions with cushioning based on cardyon polyols

Adient, a global manufacturer of seating systems for the automotive industry, and Covestro announced that they will join forces on the way to improving the circular economy. From November 2021, Adient will be integrating cardyon, a polyol made using Covestro’s CO₂ technology, as a sustainable feedstock for the production of hot cure moulded polyurethane foam. Adient deploys these foams as cushioning in its automotive seating systems.

According to Adient, this supply chain-related sustainability milestone helps to further reduce the company’s scope 3 emissions as calculated by the Greenhouse Gas protocol. Based on the principle of the circular economy, the CO₂ technology by Covestro reuses carbon dioxide as a valuable material source by integrating up to 20 % of CO₂ into polyol production. The smart contribution helps to preserve fossil resources and close the carbon loop.

By integrating re-used CO₂ as raw material, Adient pursues circular economy approaches for the automotive industry. (Source: Adient)

David Nash, Vice President Components EMEA at Adient, said: “Adient is pursuing multiple ways to reduce its CO₂ footprint, further raising sustainability, and this is especially true for the production of polyurethane foam. By choosing cardyon by our partner Covestro, we have made another valuable step towards more sustainable production of our high-class seating systems. In addition to the high quality of our products, this means further differentiation and added value for our customers.”

“We feel very pleased that, together with Adient, we are taking a further step towards the circular economy. The fact that our CO₂ technology is now also available for premium car seats confirms the great potential of this unique innovation, realising high-quality sustainable solutions for the automotive industry”, said Dr. Persefoni Hilken, cardyon Venture Manager at Covestro.

Adient said by integrating enhanced polyol solutions into the production of polyurethane foam, it supports the reuse of CO₂ from chemical processes as an alternative raw material. Thereby the company follows the path of moving away from fossil resources to recycled ones, avoiding CO₂ being emitted to the atmosphere. The CO₂ technology itself can be also used for further applications, such as sports flooring, mattresses, and textile fibres. The newly-developed foams fulfil all stringent OEM specifications, having the same properties as those produced from fossil-based polyols. Additionally, the new solution can be easily applied within existing production processes, with only a minor modification of equipment, said the company.

www.adient.com
www.covestro.com