Funded by

Project aim:
Fiber-reinforced plastics are the structural materials used in a large variety of consumer and industrial products, but the management of post-use composite products in compliance to the circular economy principles is still a serious challenge.

The DeremCo project aims to establish a systemic, cross-sectorial, Demand-Driven Circular Economy solution that will unlock the cost-effective reuse of post-use composite materials and components in new high-added value products, grounding on the inter-relation between the technical and social eco-systems at local and interregional level and bringing benefit to the environment, industry, consumers and the European society. Two circular pilot strategies will be followed to meet the consumer requirements: i) mechanical demanufacturing and hybrid reprocessing, ii) thermo-chemical demanufacturing and textile reprocessing. In line with new DeremCo Demand-Driven vision the circular value-chain is transformed into a “pull” system, where the requirements and specifications on the materials and components to be reused are transferred directly from the demand side in terms of characteristics and functionalities of the high added-value products re-using them.

To ensure sustainability and continuation, main goals will be to facilitate the industrial uptake within local eco-systems, to de-risk future industrial uptake through private investments and to increase awareness for a more conscious consumer behaviour.

To achieve these goals, Lombardy (Italy), Basque Country (Spain), Tampere (Finland), Slovenia and Upper Austria (Austria) will demonstrate 14 composite re-use business cases with tested sustainable economic, social and environmental outcomes, then replicated and multiplicated across European regions, facilitated by a dedicated multi-stakeholder Digital Platform.

Funding programme:
I3-2021-INV1

Project reference:
101084037

deremco.afil.it

The main ambition of the RECREATE project is to develop a set of innovative technologies aimed at exploiting the circularity potential of End-of-Life (EoL) complex composite waste (mainly carbon fibre reinforced composites CFRC and glass fibre reinforced composites GFRC) as a feedstock for profitable reuse of parts and materials in the manufacturing industry. The Plastics and Elastomer Technology research group activities in the project continues the research topic of a previous FiberEUse project (http://fibereuse.eu/) on improving the technical viability of recycled fibers as raw materials for composites.

RECREATE key challenge and greatest opportunity is the reduction of cost of fibers in the composites market. The reduction in the cost of fibers is expected to decrease the cost of composites, thereby driving a wider penetration of fiber composites in various applications, especially in the e-mobility sector. At the same time, issues related to recycling present the greatest challenge for composites manufacturers. The complex material compositions and the crosslinked nature of composites, especially thermoset composites, make the recyclability of composites difficult. Most of the composites used are disposed of in landfills, or incinerated. As a consequence, by enhancing the greatest market opportunity, i.e. making lower cost reusable materials available in traceable and certified way, and by limiting the market threats, i.e. demonstrating viable demand-driven solutions for circular business cases, RECREATE is meant to deliver core change to the composite industry.

Funding:
European Commission

Funding source:
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101058756.

recreatecomposites.eu