Adient and Dow launch SPECFLEX REN foam with ISCC PLUS certified renewable content
Adient and Dow have commercially launched SPECFLEX REN, a polyurethane seating foam that uses ISCC PLUS certified bio-attributed feedstocks to lower carbon footprint.
- 65,000
- ~200
- ~34,600
- ~$40 billion
What Happened
Adient and Dow have commercially launched SPECFLEX REN, a next-generation polyurethane seating foam now available with ISCC PLUS certified bio-attributed feedstocks via a mass balance approach. The foam displaces fossil-based raw materials to help reduce product carbon footprint while maintaining premium performance standards. The companies say the solution supports major automakers' sustainability and decarbonization goals as EV production scales.
“This collaboration underscores Dow's commitment to advancing sustainable mobility through materials science innovation. By launching SPECFLEX REN, we are enabling our partners to integrate renewable feedstocks into the polyurethane seating value chain through an ISCC PLUS certified mass balance approach without compromising performance, supporting their decarbonization goals.”
“Collaborations like this are critical to translating innovation into scalable impact. At Adient, partnering with leaders like Dow enables us to incorporate renewable and bio-circular attributed feedstocks into advanced seating solutions—without compromising performance—helping advance sustainability objectives within the automotive industry.”
- Delivers comfort and resilience performance comparable to conventional seating foam
- Supports sustainability objectives through ISCC PLUS certified bio-circular attributed feedstocks allocated via a mass balance approach
This achievement is the result of collaboration across the value chain, combining Dow's expertise in materials science and circular chemistry with Adient's leadership in seating design and manufacturing. Together, the companies are working to scale adoption of polyurethane solutions with renewable feedstock inputs across automotive applications, aiming to show these innovations are technically feasible and commercially viable.
Why this matters
This collaboration matters because seating foam has traditionally relied on fossil-based polyurethane, a major source of carbon emissions in vehicle production. By offering a certified renewable alternative that keeps comfort and durability, Adient and Dow give automakers a way to cut their environmental footprint as EV production scales. It also shows how materials suppliers are turning sustainability pledges into commercially available products.
Terms in This Story
- ISCC PLUS
- An international sustainability certification system that verifies the content of bio-based and circular materials and their supply chain.
- Mass balance
- An accounting method that tracks the amount of renewable feedstock used in production and attributes it to the final product.
- Bio-circular
- Feedstocks derived from biological sources that are reused or recycled, reducing reliance on fossil-based raw materials.
- Polyurethane foam
- A plastic material commonly used in seating cushions, typically made from petroleum-based chemicals and known for its durability and comfort.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.