The overall objective of NONTOX is to increase the recycling rates of plastics waste containing hazardous substances by developing and optimising recycling processes to produce safe and high quality secondary plastic materials and by optimising the overall process economics by integration. Increasing recycling rates is crucial for the implementation of a circular economy as clearly stated in the EU Plastic Strategy. NONTOX focuses on the removal of hazardous and undesired substances from plastic waste taking into account the whole value chain: sorting and pre-treatment techniques, recycling technologies but also post-treatment techniques. Valorisation of by-products and removed substances is also considered to enhance potential applications. NONTOX will target material recovery of plastics originating from WEEE, ELV and C&DW streams containing hazardous additives or undesired compounds such as flame-retardants, stabilizers, fillers, etc. Main secondary plastic outputs will include for example, ABS, EPS, PS, HIPS, PE, PP. The market for these polymers is massive as together they represent about half of the EU demand for plastics and yet a significant portion of these valuable plastics is landfilled or incinerated. NONTOX will further develop two different technologies (Extruclean and CreaSolv®) to remove hazardous substances from aforementioned plastic waste streams, allowing for increased recycling rates. NONTOX will also improve knowledge and state of the art concerning pre-treatment and sorting of plastic waste containing hazardous substances. Thermochemical conversion of non-target plastics and side streams from the main recycling processes will be investigated to increase system efficiency by integration and widen the range of final products and applications. NONTOX is conceived by a multidisciplinary consortium including internationally renowned RTOs, universities, key industrial partners and recyclers as well as product design experts.

QUASAR will develop and implement solutions for a systematic collection and management methodology and decision tools for EOL-PV-modules based on a holistic approach between all parts and actors across the EOL supply chain including concepts of reverse logistic technologies, AI/machine learning, product lifecycle information management (PLIM) based on digital twins, and best practices for sorting, warehouse operations, testing and repair/reuse. EOL decision-making will be supported through the delivery of a digital product passport thanks to smart sensor tags as well as rapid, non-destructive testing methods for assessing EOL-PV condition for reuse/repair/recycling in the field and at waste treatment facilities. Repair technology solutions will be provided, along with guidelines for second-life warranty, quality thresholds, product reliability, labelling and tracking. QUASAR will upscale and demonstrate two emerging recycling technologies based on delamination by controlled thermal and chemical treatment [pilot A] and waterjet delamination [pilot B], targeting EOL-PV recycling rates of 70-90% for silicon, metals, glass and polymers with high purity for reuse in the PV industry, as well as semi-conductor industry, speciality chemicals, float glass, or other products. Material closed-loop systems will be implemented to enable a circular economy for the PV industry. By 2050, from the upscaling and worldwide deployment of both recycling technologies, substantial volumes of secondary raw materials will be unlocked: 220,000 tons of silicon, 5,200 tons of silver, 62,000 tons of copper and 4,700,000 tons of glass, accompanied with 421 million tons of CO2 savings. To achieve its specific objectives, QUASAR gathers a multidisciplinary consortium involving commercial actors from across the entire EOL supply chain: PV module manufacturers, utility scale PV system operators, collectors, recyclers, and end users of recycled secondary raw materials.

Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 requires a rapid paradigm shift towards the implementations of new, climate positive solutions that can boost the European market. Emerging new solutions for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) have great potential to decarbonize production in the chemical industry, while allowing value creation from own carbon emissions. In this context, the PYROCO2 project will demonstrate the scalability and economic viability of carbon capture and utilization (CCU) to make climate-positive acetone out of industrial CO2 and renewable electricity derived hydrogen. Core of the technology is an energy-efficient thermophilic microbial bioprocess that is projected towards a reduction of 17 Mt CO2eq by 2050. The acetone produced by the PYROCO2 process will be demonstrated as an ideal platform for the catalytic synthesis of a range of chemicals, synthetic fuels, and recyclable polymer materials from CO2, generating a portfolio of viable business cases and pre-developed processes for replication and commercialisation. The PYROCO2 demonstrator plant will be able to produce up to 4000 tonnes acetone annually from 9100 tonnes of industrial CO2 and green hydrogen. It will be located at the industrial cluster of Heroya Industrial Park in southern Norway, a strategic placement that guarantees access to CO2 feedstock and green energy at a competitive price and connects several carbon-intensive industries with chemical production through industrial symbiosis. From here, the PYROCO2 project will represent a key driver for the emergence of CCU Hubs across Europe. Besides the large-scale demonstration and full financial, regulatory, and environmental assessment of the PYROCO2 technology, the project will explore the sphere of public acceptance and market exploitation to further encourage the emergence of the CCU market.

REVOLUTION focusses on overcoming the challenges hindering the use of recycled materials, but more broadly, restricting the widespread adoption of circular economy principles in the automotive industry. Forthcoming ELV directives are expected to recognise the potential for plastics to enable a circular flow of materials in the automotive sector. Implementing minimum post-consumer recyclate (PCR) targets in any new plastic components in vehicles are currently being discussed. These targets will disrupt the automotive industry. Currently PCR (closed-loop recycling) forms ~2% of the total plastics demanded across the automotive sector, and are not used in high-value or high-performing areas. REVOLUTION is proposing a disruptive innovation that will bring open-loop recycling to the forefront of automotive injection moulding. The variability of PCR causes a big problem for an industry where failure rates on 1 per million are accepted. REVOLUTION will use machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimise the input of recycled materials and injection moulding process to deliver high-quality parts. The AI-Platform will use data from three areas of the production process to predict part quality when using recycled materials. REVOLUTION will develop this platform, and develop a range of recycled formulations, including self-reinforced materials to deliver innovative components that offer light weighing, superior performance and distinctive end of life advantages for future EVs. REVOLUTION brings together leading organisations from European strong-hold industries such as automotive, chemicals and plastics. The automotive industry is represented by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles through Tofas, CRF and Tier 1s Farplas and MAIER. LyondellBasell, Clariant and Altuglas provide strong representation of the European excellence in plastics and chemicals. These are joined by leading research organisations and SMEs to bring a solution to market that addresses the entire value chain.

The MANDALA project presents a sustainable solution for the plastic packaging sector which tackles 3 pillars: eco-design, dual functionality & end-of-life; with the aim to find a final solution based on multilayer monomaterial packaging with functionalities compared to multimaterial ones and fully produced with biobased & recycled polymers in order to reach a full circularity of resources. MANDALA will develop new adhesives with dual functionality (easy to split and barrier properties) by incorporating thermoreversible covalent bonds and radiation absorbing nanoparticles, which at the same time will generate a tortuous path enhancing barrier properties that are critical for end-user. In addition, new polymer blends with increased biobased and recycled content of film layers will be developed. Their combination in a multilayer product will set the basis for new food (meat, ready-to-eat) and pharma (pill blister) packaging products. MANDALA project will demonstrate that the de-lamination technology can be up-scaled and applied to reach intermediate solutions for multilayer/multimaterial packaging (being biobased or not) progressively helping to become the end-of-life more sustainable by recovering all fractions and providing clean streams for their biodegradation or recycling. MANDALA project will directly contribute to achieve KPI 1, KPI 2, KPI 6, KPI 8 and demonstrate the solution decreasing the end-of-life costs and CO2 emissions in more than a 30%. It will develop innovations in 3 KETS. MANDALA consortium involves 12 partners (4RTD, 5SME, 1SME cluster and 2 Large Companies) accounting 2 BIC full members and 2 associated. The 42-months project will comprise a total estimated budget of 4,573,892,5€ and requested funding of 3,650,921,75€. There is a strong engagement of the industry with 922,970,75€ in-kinds (20,2%) and 4,869,731€ in additional activities during the project (machine acquisition) and 3,820,000€ envisaged to upgrade TRL after the end of the project.