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Home | Efficient Polyurethane Foam (PU Foam) Shredding & Briquetting

Efficient Polyurethane Foam (PU Foam) Shredding & Briquetting Solutions

Our industrial shredders and briquette presses transform bulky foam waste into compact briquettes – drastically reducing volume and disposal costs

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Stack with sorted UNILIN PU foam insulation boards before shredding with WEIMA

View into the cutting chamber of the WEIMA WLK 1500 shredder during the shredding of PU insulation elements

White PU boards in the cutting chamber of a shredder are shredded by the rotor.

A stack of white, square PU foam briquettes.

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Polyurethane foam (PU foam) is a waste material in many sectors, from the furniture and upholstery industry to packaging manufacturers and the construction industry (e.g. insulation boards). The problem: PU foam is extremely voluminous and lightweight. Loose foam residues take up enormous storage space and make transportation and disposal inefficient and expensive. PU foam waste is often incinerated or landfilled for lack of better options, which is neither economical nor sustainable. There is a need for action here to save space, reduce costs and conserve valuable resources.

PU foam shredding

Shredding of PU insulation boards with a WEIMA WLK 1500 with tilting table

A WEIMA WLK 1500 shredder shreds PU insulation boards. It uses a tilting table to process boards up to a length of 5500 mm.

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PU foam shredding + briquetting

PU board shredding and briquetting with a WEIMA WLK 1500 shredder and a C 150 press

PU boards are shredded to a homogeneous size and then pressed into compact briquettes.

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PU foam shredding + briquetting

Shredding and compacting PU foam with WLK 1500 shredder and TH 1200 briquetting press

For logistical reasons, PU foam briquettes are shredded with a WEIMA WLK 1500 single-shaft shredder and then pressed into compact briquettes with a WEIMA TH 1200 briquetting press.

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White PU boards in the hopper of a shredder.

PU foam shredding + briquetting

Shredding and briquetting of PU plastic sheets with WEIMA WLK 1500 and TH 1200

PU boards are shredded to a homogeneous size and then pressed into compact briquettes.

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WEIMA CSO Kay trained in front of a glazed office

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WEIMA portfolio for shredding and briquetting polyurethane foam

The right machine for any material

Single-shaft shredder

WLK series

Machines in the WLK series are ideally equipped for a wide range of plastics tasks. The machine design is characterized in particular by its durability and robustness. Thanks to the conveyor belt cut-out, all machines can be seamlessly integrated into any production line. They also offer numerous options in terms of drive and cutting geometry diversity.

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Single-shaft shredder

S7 series

With their extremely sturdy design and large rotor diameters of up to 700 mm, shredders from the S7 series offer almost unlimited application possibilities for shredding plastic waste. They are up to any challenge and can be equipped with a high-torque hydraulic drive.

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Clamp press

C 150

The C 150 is particularly suitable for small and medium-sized plants whose required throughput rate does not exceed 50-80 kg/h or 200 to 400 kg/day. Virtually any suitable material can be briquetted, such as wood, polystyrene, foams, paper or biomass.

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Matrizenpresse

TH 1200

The TH 1200 briquetting press is used in craft and industrial businesses for briquetting large quantities of chips, dust, polystyrene, foam, light metals, paper or biomass. Thanks to its modular design, the TH Standard S series can be precisely adapted to your existing production systems. Duo, trio or quattro versions are also available to increase the throughput and availability of the machine.

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Did you know?
PU foam can be reduced in volume by up to 95% through briquetting. The initial density is often only 20-60 kg/m³, whereas briquettes achieve a density of 500-800 kg/m³. This corresponds to a 10 to 20-fold compression - ideal for reducing storage and transportation costs.

Garrido et al. (2017) – Thermochemical study of the briquetting process of mattress foams

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Recycling PU foam

The most important facts at a glance

Polyurethane foam: bulky, but valuable

PU foam (polyurethane) is light, elastic and versatile - for example in mattresses, upholstered furniture, packaging or insulating materials. However, at the end of its life cycle, the foam quickly becomes a problem: it is extremely bulky, difficult to stack and expensive to dispose of. Without a suitable recycling solution, the waste usually ends up in incineration or landfill sites.

Shredding makes handling easier

In order to be able to process PU foam efficiently, shredding is the first crucial step. Industrial shredders from WEIMA reduce the airy material to a uniform particle size of around 10-30 mm. This saves storage space, facilitates handling and optimally prepares the material for the next recycling step. The robust design and adjustable rotor geometry enable precise adaptation to different types of material - from soft upholstery foam to coated or contaminated PU residues.

Briquetting for maximum volume reduction

The following briquetting process compacts the shredded material without additives into stable, space-saving briquettes. This allows PU foam to be reduced in volume by up to 90 %. This not only significantly reduces transport and disposal costs, but also allows the material to be recycled or used to generate energy.

Kay Schulte at the WEIMA headquarters in front of photos on a white wall

More efficiency, lower costs

The combination of shredding and briquetting turns problematic PU foam waste into a recyclable raw material. Companies benefit from lower operating costs, a clean workplace and a solution that is both economically and ecologically convincing. WEIMA offers the right machines for both shredding and briquetting. Everything from a single source.