A leap forward in foam technology, conserving increasingly scarce oil resources while substituting more sustainable options, reads one product brochure. Companies and media releases claim that using soy in polyurethane foam production results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions requires less energy, and could significantly reduce reliance on petroleum. Who wouldn't sleep sounder with such promising news? While these claims contain grains of truth, they are a far cry from the whole truth. So called "soy based foam" is hardly the dreamy green product that manufacturers and suppliers lead people to believe.
As with so many over hyped "green" claims, it's the things they don't say that matter most.
Sins of omission and exaggeration are nothing new in advertising, but now we have to contend with a more sinister version of the Big Lie, greenwashing. Greenwashing is defined as the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. Research conducted by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing found that in a cross section of 2,219 so called "green products", 98% engaged in greenwashing. Consistent with this research, the polyurethane foam industry doesn't disappoint.How much Soy is in Soy "BASED" foam?
For a product marketed as soy or bio-based, "soy foam" contains very little soy. In fact, it is more accurate to call it "polyurethane foam with a touch of soy added for marketing purposes". For example, a product marketed as "20% soy based" may sound impressive, but what this typically means is that only 20% of the polyol portion of the foam is derived from soy. The truth is that most "soy based" foam only use 5% soy on the polyol side, we'll explain why later.
Given that polyurethane foam is made by combining two main ingredients a resin or Side B (which contains the polyol, the polyol contains the Soy) and an Isocyanate or Side A in approximately equal parts.
Cargil is the main manufacturer of Soy polyols, according to their website the soy content of the polyols is between 5 and 40%. The reality is that in order to make a stable polyurethane foam the soy content needs to be 5% or less.
5% soy "based" translates to a mere 2.5% of the foam's total volume. The product remains 97.5% petroleum based (just like the mattress you sleep on at night) and by any reasonable measure cannot legitimately be described as "based" on soy. If you poured half a can of 7up into a resin drum will that mean you have 7up based foam?
Wow, this is interesting, tell me more.
Ok I will, now sit back grab, some popcorn and maybe a 7up and let me explain. Don't spill it though or you might end up with a 7up based floor.
The Iso or A side of polyurethane foam is petroleum based and is not unique to each foam manufacturer. All the manufacturers soy or otherwise buy their Iso (50% of the 2 part system) from only a couple companies worldwide.The Resin or B side is the Key for the Soy claims.
Resin is the other 50% of the 2 part mix and is a liquid blend of polyols, catalyst surfactants and other additives. The polyol part is what contains a small amount of soy oil.If Soy is used in the Polyol what is it replacing?...in other words what do the other guys use?
Here is the revelation that will completely blow your mind, make sure you sit down before you read further. The other guys have for years used sucrose-based oils, which typically come from sugar beets. That's right everyone, SUGAR. Don't believe me watch this youtube video and take note at 1:45
But I don't get it, why would the main producer of Soy polyols like Cargill use less stable Soy oils instead of sucrose oils?
Oh my friends this is where it gets complex. You see, Cargill has a horrible environmental track record and has been subject to numerous criticisms over a number of topics including environmental issues, contamination and humans rights abuses. Criticisms like these are serious and make the public angry and in turn makes investors jittery. Jittery investors can adversely affect the price of a company's stock. So to combat this problem many public and privately held corporations including Cargill engaged in what is called the "Sustainable Soya plan". In reality this plan is about public relations. They try to convince consumers that their products are safe, healthy and do not violate environmental or human rights. At the same time they try to reassure the international financial institutions that their industry is not vulnerable to criticisms.
And how has this "green" initiative benefited Cargill?
The Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Award, which aims to promote innovative chemical technologies that reduce negative impacts on human health and the environment, will go to Cargill's BiOHT brand polyols. I bet you're laughing all the way to the bank Cargill. Good jobSo why don't the other manufacturers tout the sucrose in the polyol like the others do the soy?
That's simply...It never dawned on them that anyone would stoop so low as to tout the 2.5% soy and so blatantly lie to the public and call it "Soy Based" and that the public would buy it hook line and sinker.
Had they known that, trust me you'd see a lot of sucrose based foam on the market.
Earlier you mentioned that more than 5% Soy in the polyol would make the foam unstable, can you explain that?Soy polyol is inconsistent. That is why soy "based" foams can only contain a very small amount of soy. Not all soy is processed down to food-grade consistency like sugar or vegetable oil.
Soil type, soy bean variety, chemicals applied to the plant during growing season, and the Q.C. standards of the processing plant itself will create a pretty wide range of different grades of soy polyols.
Soy foams are among the most inconsistent bio-foams out there and the most inconsistent ones are those that utilize the highest percentages of the soy polyol. The more soy, the more finicky the foam is to spray. That's right everyone the best soy "based" foam is the one that uses the least amount of soy.
This is where you the customer have a decision to make.
Soy is a major food source in many nations throughout Asia and the world. Many of developing countries depend on Soy and other proteins in their daily diet. The Use and demand of Soy in a non dietary process does one thing, it drives up the price of Soya beans. The ones that will suffer the most are the ones that depend on it as a major food source.
The bottom line.
Whatever you use for insulation, the energy input cost of that insulation is dwarfed by the energy savings it provides when properly installed. Since the source of most of that heating energy is fossil fuels, you should choose the best insulation for the job.
There are not too many differences in foam as it relates to the ingredients from company to company, but as we can see some of them have better marketing departments.
We prefer to do business with companies that spend their time focusing on customer service and deliver a good stable foam and a little less time and resources lying to their customers.
I think Retired Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner said it best, appearing on DemocracyNow:"When you have to make up stories to sell the thing that you're trying to defend, you've gone down a bad road... If they had a good product they wouldn't have to lie to sell it. But they don't and they do."