News

Within Work Package 2 of Circular Flooring, the CreaSolv® Process for recycling PVC flooring waste is further tailored by Fraunhofer IVV. The recycled PVC is constantly tested and analysed by the two partners Akdeniz Chemson and Vinnolit to develop a general formulation to process the powder back into neat and processable PVC that can be reused for flooring.

Formulations for processing PVC are generally composed of the polymer, fillers, stabilising systems and optionally lubricants to control melt viscosity and metal release. Plasticized PVC, like the one used in flooring, contains a varying amount of plasticisers, which are responsible of softening the PVC to the required extent. The composition of stabilising systems and the exact formulations for flooring production are subject to intellectual properties. However, a basic formulation for processing PVC for floorings or at least into selected layers of complex multi-layer floorings (e.g. backing layer) is necessary as a starting point. The composition of stabilising systems can be tailored to the requirements of the PVC processing procedure and the materials in use so that further optimisations are possible and will be adapted at a later stage of the project.

Akdeniz Chemson and Vinnolit, based on input from Fraunhofer IVV have now successfully framed a general formulation for recycled PVC from CreaSolv® Process for further use in PVC flooring applications. Although further tailoring of stabilising systems to recycled PVC and optimization of filler content is advised, already available products are sufficient for processing and establishing a first guide formulation.