MIX-UP Partner Soprema: More Than 100 Years of Experience On Our Side

| By Leon Kirschgens & Jacqueline Plaster
©Copyright by Soprema
A few insight to Soprema's lab.
©Copyright by Soprema
A few insights to Soprema's lab.
©Copyright by Soprema

In science, it is usually like this: the research of something new takes a long time and involves a lot of precise work. Especially in times of the corona crisis and the search for a vaccine, we see once again how complex research is - and this also applies to us at MIX-UP.

We are therefore glad to have such an experienced partner as Soprema on board. The French family business can look back on more than 100 years of experience in the building materials industry and has already been involved in successful EU research projects such as the former P4SB project. Soprema primarily develops various waterproofing and insulation methods for the construction industry and uses various plastics for this purpose.

However, the company began early on to advocate more sustainability in the use of plastics. Together with its partners, the company addressed the issue: How can biobased plastics be developed and used for the construction sector? How can the construction industry becomemore sustainable in general? Finally, Soprema developed its own research laboratory MUTAXIO in cooperation with the Institute of Chemistry and Processes for Energy, Environment and Health of the University of Strasbourg (ICPEES).
 

Soprema's greatest achievement is probably the "Sopraloop" recycling plant: the engineers at the plant use a process that is unique in the world, which allows packaging waste from complex PET to be recycled and thus reused in industry. The plant combines various separation processes to recover complex plastic waste and convert it into so-called polyols, which are used for the production of PU insulation boards – once again, Soprema has already demonstrated its expertise and shown that resources and energy can be reduced and reusedeven in the construction industry.

Within MIX-UP, soprema is involved in different working packages. These packages involes the evaluation of bioplasticizers and the synthesis and characterization of TPU, PU coatings and PU foams. Further they are working on a commercial exploitation study and provide mixed plastic residential waste for the project partners.

Due to the current situation in France we also wish our partner Soprema health and stamina and are looking forward to future cooperation!