Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Until now, most upholstered furniture ends up in landfill, because the foam conventionally used inside presents a big challenge for recycling. It can’t simply be melted and reused. It can be shredded and pressed back together, resulting in far inferior material with very few uses. Breaking it down chemically works in theory, but it is usually too expensive in practice. As a result, billions of sofas, chairs, and mattresses end up at the rubbish dump every year.
This is the challenge chemical company BASF and Vitra, one of the leading names in furniture design, set out to confront together – combining material science and design excellence to rethink polyurethane foam. The result is V-Foam, the first economically recyclable polyurethane foam. Meet the people behind and learn more about the collaboration.
This video was first published as a commercial feature on bbc.com/storyworks/solutions-that-can-move-the-world/hub and was created by BBC StoryWorks, BBC Global News's commercial content division, on behalf of BASF.
Until now, most upholstered furniture ends up in landfill, because the foam conventionally used inside presents a big challenge for recycling. It can’t simply be melted and reused. It can be shredded and pressed back together, resulting in far inferior material with very few uses. Breaking it down chemically works in theory, but it is usually too expensive in practice. As a result, billions of sofas, chairs, and mattresses end up at the rubbish dump every year.
This is the challenge chemical company BASF and Vitra, one of the leading names in furniture design, set out to confront together – combining material science and design excellence to rethink polyurethane foam. The result is V-Foam, the first economically recyclable polyurethane foam. Meet the people behind and learn more about the collaboration.
This video was first published as a commercial feature on bbc.com/storyworks/solutions-that-can-move-the-world/hub and was created by BBC StoryWorks, BBC Global News's commercial content division, on behalf of BASF.
