Newsletter 1 - Developing a circular framework: ECOBULK takes the lead

We are excited to announce that ECOBULK project, funded by Horizon 2020, has officially started its 4-years long journey towards formulating new materials and design models for the circular economy.
This one of a kind large-scale demonstration project spanning three industries – automotive, furniture and construction – focuses on bulky composite materials, which are a significant obstacle to mainstream adoption of circular economy models. Complex composite products are popular in new industrial designs because of their advantageous properties, but they are difficult to recycle.
As prof. Ruud Balkenende of TU Delft remarked during his presentation on circular design frameworks for the three product sectors, 'From a design perspective, linear product recycling is coincidental'. ECOBULK, with its complete design and production model for circular products, eliminates this coincidence and replaces it with the promise of longer product lifecycles and a higher retention of value at the end-of-life stage. A promise which we sorely need to fulfil in the face of limited resources, economic burden and environmental threat.
Last week the consortium partners from all over the Europe met in Barcelona to discuss progress in the early stages of ECOBULK. The consortium, 27 members in total, is a group of designers, material and product manufacturers, waste managers and recyclers, who, supported by environmental analysts, will demonstrate the value and feasibility of a circular approach to composite products.In this newsletter you can read about some of the interesting first steps taken in this project and presented during the meeting:
ECOBULK in BarcelonaTech – The first 6 months
What would Don Quixote Recycle? - In search of challenges
Is recycling coincidental? - Thinking about Design for Recovery
In the following weeks, you will hear more about the companies involved in ECOBULK as well as the work they do. Join us now on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to follow ECOBULK progress.
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BarcelonaTech, or the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, had a warm welcome for the consortium partners who gathered for one and half days to share and discuss progress in the still very early stages of the ECOBULK project. Dr. Luis Romeral, representing the MCIA (Motion Control and Industrial Applications) group, was a gracious host and by setting up the refreshments in the patio area outside, gave his guests the chance to enjoy the balmy autumn weather with some very good snacks – something much appreciated by those from other regions already in the first grips of winter.
He identified two major problem products – wind turbine blades and plastic pipes. A short time ago, Finland’s very first wind power turbines were dismantled after nearly 30 years in service. A lot of it should be easy to recycle – mostly steel. But the blades, the largest up to 90 meters long and close to 10 tons in weight, are made with thermoset FRPs that have so far been considered unrecyclable. Mr. Vilkki managed to get some samples of the blade materials he could use in his experiments. It went well, as can be seen by his first samples of FRP wood composite extrusion profiles containing 20% FRP waste from those very first turbines. Mr. Vilkki is now arranging a collaboration with a recycling company in Holland – Virol – who will have the interesting task of collecting and preparing – in other words, crushing – the turbine blade material in bulk volumes to be used in production.
The second set of samples comes from Mr. Vilkki’s previous job at a well-known Finnish plastic pipe manufacturer. Multi-layer pipes are popular because of the special barrier performance properties that can be added to them by adding layers. But these extra layers make them difficult or impossible to recycle, because the layers are not easily separated. So, while the products boast recyclable materials, in practice they are not. However, with Conenor’s new agglomeration techniques this might change. His second set of samples, are multi-layer decking board extrusion products containing 30% recycled (coated) pipe material and 20% GFRP material from production waste.
Mr. Vilkki’s next challenge is to find interesting sources of wood furniture waste that could be used in his formulations to create more opportunities to recycle materials. He welcomes your suggestions. To learn more about this revolutionary
This element of ECOBULK is especially important for the implementation of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 which calls for sustainable consumption and production patterns: This will require “a systemic approach and cooperation among actors operating in the supply chain, from producer to final consumer”. Ruud emphasised the fundamental importance of design in achieving circularity, arguing that designers are in a central position to improve the sustainability and recyclability of bulky composite materials and develop longer-lasting, higher quality products by insuring that all designs consider the recovery process. 

