Major breakthrough achieved in the waste sponge recycling and reuse technology independently developed by Jiangsu Hengguang New Materials

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Recently, a significant breakthrough was achieved in the waste sponge recycling technology independently developed by Hengguang New Materials (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Conch Innovation. This technology is designed to reuse waste sponges, thereby enabling resource recycling and turning waste into treasure; it is currently the first of its kind in China. It not only overcomes the technical barriers to the recycling of polyurethane materials but also sets a benchmark for resource recycling, injecting new momentum into the group’s green development. The technical background for this is that conventional sponge foaming results in 10%-20% of waste material. Such sponge scraps reduce the cost-effectiveness of production, and moreover, the generation of waste leads to resource waste and environmental pollution. To address this issue, Hengguang New Materials took on the challenge, assembled research personnel to conduct numerous experiments, and finally developed a technology for recycling waste sponges. Hengguang New Materials is currently the first company in China to overcome the technical challenges associated with the efficient recycling of waste sponge. This technology involves crushing waste sponge, adding self-developed modified solvents, and then heating it (at 100°C–120°C) to facilitate dissolution. Through precise process control, sponge polyether raw material can be recovered, and the resulting sponge polyether raw material contains TDI products. After numerous tests, this technology has matured and is ready for industrialization; since further investment is required only in small amounts, recycled materials meet the principle of cost-effectiveness. This technology enables the recycling of resources, significantly reducing the high energy consumption and substantial carbon emissions that are common in the polyurethane industry. This revolutionary technological innovation is in line with the **\"dual carbon\" goals, and it provides an industrial process that can be adopted and replicated for the future development of this industry. Another key highlight of this technology is that the polyether raw materials obtained from the recycling of waste spugs contain TDI. As a crucial ingredient in the foaming process of polyurethane spugs, TDI enables sponge manufacturers to reduce their reliance on this material by using recycled raw materials. This technological breakthrough not only facilitates the reuse of resources in the sponge production process but also enhances the overall efficiency of resource recycling, providing a practical technical solution for the sustainable development of the industry and the advancement of circular economy practices. This technology can be scaled up for industrial application, and the related industries will generate certain environmental and economic benefits. By making extensive use of recycled materials, production costs will drop significantly, and the raw material costs for sponge manufacturers in the downstream sector will also decrease, bringing real benefits to these companies. At the same time, sponge products manufactured from recycled materials exhibit key performance parameters such as elasticity and density that are identical to those of products made from virgin materials, fully meeting the application requirements in fields such as home furnishings, building materials, and the automotive industry; therefore, this technology is worth promoting. Hengguang New Materials holds the honors of \"High-Tech Enterprise of ** level\" and \"Specialized, Refined, Unique ‘Little Giant’ Enterprise\". Currently, the company possesses a mature recycling process and production system for waste sponge. In the future, the company will leverage the platform advantages of the Conch Group to accelerate the industrial application and dissemination of this technology, continuously expand the use scenarios for recycled materials, help reduce the industry’s reliance on imported materials, promote the transformation and upgrading of the new materials industry toward greener and higher-quality standards, and vigorously develop a circular economy.