Celebrating the first year at Lithuanian Innovation Centre

The Vita Group’s Comfort Foam Innovation Centre at Alytus in Lithuania is celebrating its first year contributing to innovation, product development and formulations for foam supplied to comfort customers such as those in furniture and bedding markets. The Centre embodies Vita’s dedication to applying creativity to drive improvements within its product portfolio.

Head of Technical Development at the Centre in Lithuania is Eduardas Janušauskas. He has a team of experienced technicians working to stretch the boundaries of polyurethane chemistry and undertake formulation design and testing on behalf of the company’s manufacturing plants across Europe, reflecting the commitment to innovation that runs through all work delivered by The Vita Group.

Projects undertaken during the last year have included developing polyurethane foam using castor oil. This work delivered the Vita BioRest pillow, launched in early 2021. It is made from high quality, viscoelastic polyurethane foam supplemented with sustainable castor oil (up to 12%). Castor oil is known to hold anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial properties. These pillows represent a fusion of technology and nature and can help create the environment for a comfortable and good night’s sleep.

As part of Vita’s sustainability initiative, the Innovation Centre has developed foams using Covestro polyol Cardyon®, an innovative polyol that incorporates up to 20% captured CO₂ into the polyol structure. Vita is increasingly using additional and new materials in the production of its foam, so part of the role of the innovation team is determining the viscosities of these materials in order to calibrate production processes.

Gilbert Davids, MD for Vita’s Comfort division, said “At Vita, sustainability and innovation are integral to our culture, purpose, and values. We are constantly investing in our products and processes and are continuing to plan new innovative ways to support sustainability and the circular economy. The products being developed in Lithuania truly embody the ethics and principles that are so important to us at Vita, and I’d like to congratulate my colleagues in Alytus on all they’ve achieved in the past year.”