|
Cargill Springs into Bedding
Market
with Bio-based Polyols for
Flexible Urethane Foams
Edited by: Dale T. Read, Editor-in-Chief
When we lay ourselves down to sleep, most of us do so on a mattress
with polyurethane foam in one form or another. In fairly substantial
part, polyurethanes consist of “polyols,” which are made from
petroleum. At least, that’s what they always used to be made from.
That is starting to change, and at the forefront of that change is
one of the world’s leading agricultural companies, Cargill.
This year, two major manufacturers of bedding foam—Hickory Springs
Manufacturing Company, and North Carolina Foam Industries (NCFI)—began
to use a soybean-based industrial polyol from Cargill in their
formulations. This marks the foam industry’s first steps away from
complete reliance on petroleum-based chemicals.
 Designed to deliver performance as well as environmental advantages,
Cargill’s bio-based polyols give companies the ability to
differentiate from their competitors and to gain a degree of
protection against the uncertainty of oil and natural gas supplies.
The fact that it’s a “green” product made from renewable resources
doesn’t hurt, either.
 So far, Cargill’s polyols, sold under the brand name BiOH™
(pronounced BIO), can replace between 10 and 40 percent of the
petroleum-based polyol normally used in many foam formulations. That
percentage should increase somewhat over time as customers become
more familiar with its use. Customers say they’re amazed at the
progress that’s been made to date.
“Five years ago we looked at a soy–based product and it stunk,” says
Bobby Bush, vice president for foam and environmental technology at
Hickory Springs. By that, he means just what he says. The product
literally smelled terrible—“like burnt popcorn,” he recalls. Think
about it. This is something that people are going to be sleeping on.
If it smells funny, that’s a deal-breaker.
Cargill’s technology has overcome the problems with both odor and
consistency that have plagued previous attempts at making bio-based
polyols for flexible foam. Just how Cargill did this is proprietary,
but it’s a process that can employ a number of natural oils,
including linseed, grapeseed, soy and sunflower.
According to Yusuf Wazirzada, business manager of Cargill’s
bio-based urethane polyols, the key to bringing the product to
market has been collaborating with customers. “We worked closely
with the major urethane players, who have deep insights in the
field,” he said. “By coupling their capabilities with our expertise
in agricultural resources, we’ve been able to develop and deliver
the high-performance product they need.”
While not yet a household name in urethanes, Cargill is a global
leader in its traditional businesses of food, farm and financial
products and services. The privately held, $75 billion company is
dedicated to finding new markets for crops through trading,
processing, refining or adding value.
“We have been innovating with agricultural products for 140 years,”
Wazirzada continued. “It is no surprise that we are leading the way
in bringing renewables to the urethane market.
“The significant price increases for crude oil and natural gas,
their inherent volatility, uncertainty of supply and the fact that
these are finite fossil fuels are all good reasons to look at
Cargill’s line of bio-based industrial polyols,” Wazirzada
concluded. “It’s simply a responsible choice we can provide.”
Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk
management products and services. With 124,000 employees in 59
countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and
experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed.
Yusuf Wazirzada
invited companies interested in exploring the possibilities of
bio-based urethane polyols to contact Cargill via phone at:
(877) POLYBIO (765-9246)
or e-mail:
customerservice_polyols@cargill.com
Visit Cargill at
www.cargill.com
|
