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Polycarbonate and polyurethane scraps from end-oflife vehicles were converted into liquid recycled polyols with hydroxyl number around 300 mgKOH•g −1 by using medium chain glycerides of coconut oil. The obtained polyols were used for preparation of low-density rigid polyurethane foams. It was found that up to 50 wt % of the virgin petrochemical polyol can be replaced by the recycled polyols without any negative effect on the foaming process. The obtained foams exhibited the apparent density of 40−44 kg•m −3 , the homogeneous cellular structure with a high content of closed cells (>91 vol %) and the beneficially low value of lambda coefficient (∼23 mW•m −1 •K −1 ). The exceptionally high compressive strength (>350 kPa in parallel to foam rise direction) of the rigid PUR foams with 50 wt % of recycled polyol derived from polycarbonate scrap resulted probably from the unique structure of recycled polyol combining rigid aromatic segments together with flexible coconut oil glyceride units. In conclusion, this approach utilizing the renewable coconut oil-derived reagent provides a sustainable recycling solution for two major plastics from automotive waste.

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High-quality rigid polyurethane (PU) foam thermal insulation material has been developed solely using bio-polyols synthesized from second-generation bio-based feedstock. High functionality bio-polyols were synthesized from cellulose production side stream—tall oil fatty acids by oxirane ring-opening as well as esterification reactions with different polyfunctional alcohols, such as diethylene glycol, trimethylolpropane, triethanolamine, and diethanolamine. Four different high functionality bio-polyols were combined with bio-polyol obtained from tall oil esterification with triethanolamine to develop rigid PU foam formulations applicable as thermal insulation material. The developed formulations were optimized using response surface modeling to find optimal bio-polyol and physical blowing agent: c-pentane content. The optimized bio-based rigid PU foam formulations delivered comparable thermal insulation properties to the petro-chemical alternative.