The growth and recyclability of thermoplastic polyurethanes

The first TPU was invented in the late 1950s and is considered the first thermoplastic elastomer in the modern sense. Since its introduction to the market in the 1960s, the popularity of this family of materials has remained unbroken. Various recycled thermoplastic polyurethanes have recently become available from some raw material suppliers such as Covestro, Econa, or Giancco. When the raw material is reprocessed and thus recycled, molecular weight decreases exponentially with the number of recycling cycles but is limited by an asymptote (https://doi.org/10.3390/polyml2091917). [...]it is essential to know the number of reprocessing cycles the material can be exposed to (https:// doi.org/10.1016/j .polymdegradstab.2022.109880).