This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101058670.
PRecycling Project: Progress and Insights from the M30 Meeting in Brussels
The PRecycling partners convened for the 30th-month consortium meeting in Brussels on October 7-8, 2024, hosted by European Plastics Converters (EuPC). The two-day meeting provided an opportunity to assess the progress of the project, address ongoing challenges, and establish a roadmap for future activities. During the meeting, the discussions covered the entire aspects and ongoing activities of the project, from technical advancements in recycling processes to dissemination efforts and planning for upcoming milestones.
On the first day, Dr. Tanja Kosanovic Milickovic on behalf of the NTUA coordination team, opened the session by outlining the agenda, setting the stage for an in-depth review of technical tasks and updates across multiple work packages.
Starting from project management and quality assurance activities under WP8, NTUA reported on day-to-day management processes and discussed risk mitigation strategies for challenges encountered since the last consortium meeting, ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality outputs.
Dissemination and exploitation activities under WP7, led by Stratagem, showed substantial progress, including a successful promotional campaign for AIJU’s toy recycling study and the release of the project’s third newsletter. The team prioritised key exploitable results based on their industrial impact and innovation potential, while also advancing efforts to collaborate with other EU-funded projects by attending events and organising a dedicated joint webinar.
In WP6, IRES presented findings from on-site exposure assessments conducted during ABS polymer processing. These assessments, based on an OECD-developed methodology, included hazard identification and risk evaluation in collaboration with key partners. The task also developed a chemical analysis protocol with AIJU and BIOG3D to assess the leaching of additives in toys, alongside a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to simulate air velocity, temperature, and airborne hazard distribution in NTUA-LPT laboratories.
The work under Task 6.2 focused on life cycle assessments (LCA), with DTU and IRES providing preliminary results for toy and home appliance demos. While impact assessment results highlighted data gaps, the team emphasised the importance of obtaining real-world data to enhance the robustness of their analyses. Task 6.3 advanced the project’s life cycle costing (LCC) efforts, with IRES presenting a standardised questionnaire to collect data on the economic “hot spots” across the life cycle of new plastic products. Task 6.4 revolved around integrating eco-design principles into prototypes, utilising a newly developed survey to identify opportunities and challenges in sustainable design practices.
Significant progress was also made in WP1: AIJU presented updates on task 1.4 and on the interactive handbook for recycling terminology. The handbook now includes additional terms derived from standards, reports, and literature, and a draft showcasing its interactivity was shared with the consortium. The handbook is in an advanced testing phase and will be soon published online with different features.
The second day of the meeting focused on technical advancements in WP2, WP3, WP4 and WP5.
In WP2, AIMEN demonstrated success in identifying and classifying polymers by colour with 90% accuracy, while in task 2.3 Fraunhofer IVV reported progress in solvent-based purification processes for the selected waste streams. The last test results are expected by the first quarter of 2025.
Task 2.4 on stabilization of recycled materials, including PP and HIPS, showed promising results, with ongoing efforts to analyse mechanical and rheological properties. Additionally, NTUA advanced SSP processes and Centexbel chain extension trials for PET and PA, which are key to producing high-quality recyclates suitable for diverse applications.
WP3 focused on evaluating recyclates for various use cases. Criteria for material performance, safety, and consumer acceptance were established, guiding extensive testing. Early results highlighted deviations in some properties, such as melt flow rates (MFR) and ash content, while benchmarks were reassessed for suitability. Aging studies provided insights into material durability under real-world conditions, with efforts underway to create predictive models using generated data. BASF contributed to analysing restricted substances like phthalates and flame retardants, ensuring compliance with safety standards. For textiles, Centexbel is testing different cross-linkers to improve IV and fiber properties.
In Task T3.3, AIMEN and MIRTEC collaborated to analyse the same samples and compared the relative intensities of the detected elements with XRF data provided by Fraunhofer IVV, finding the values in good agreement.
Tracking and tracing technologies under WP4 are still under implementation. In task 4.1 organic tracers were found to be limited for recyclate identification, while inorganic tracers showed potential. In task 4.3 Circularise updated its data-sharing platform to better support industrial use cases, and NTNU advanced its visualization platform for circularity decision-making, engaging stakeholders in Norway and the Netherlands.
Under the leadership of Arçelik, WP5 has progressed across several key tasks. In task 5.1, requirements for each use case were defined. Partners collaborated with Fraunhofer IVV in Task 5.2, in testing different compounds derived from fridge waste. These tests revealed high ash content and low impact resistance. Ongoing efforts aim to develop improved materials for this and other applications.
In task 5.3 AIJU refined toy designs to meet safety standards, while efforts to optimise multi-filament printing continued. Task 5.5 with the collaboration of Centexbel focused on analysing reactive extrusion to enhance the properties of recycled polyester for fibre spinning applications. This work included evaluating the impact of compounding variables on material flow behaviour, preparing for melt spinning trials, and producing fibre that will be woven or knitted into fabrics.
The last part of the meeting was dedicated to a review of upcoming milestones and deliverables, including plans to finalise several tasks before the project’s next phase. Partners agreed on the publication of different research papers, encouraging collaboration across the consortium to maximize impact.
Looking ahead, the PRecycling consortium will reconvene in Ludwigshafen, Germany for its next meeting, hosted by BASF. This gathering will provide further opportunities to align on project objectives, assess progress, and address remaining challenges as the project approaches its critical milestones.
Stay tuned for the next meeting!