ECOBULK through a large scale demonstration effort will contribute to “closing the loop” of composite products in the automotive, furniture and building sectors by promoting greater re-use, upgrade, refurbishment and recycle of products, parts, and materials. It will bring opportunities for both the environment and the economy by offering business opportunities along the entire new defined supply and value chains. ECOBULK approach will be based on identifying and promoting commonalities in processes, technologies, products and services ensuring replicability and transferability to other industrial sectors. The ambitious application of the circular economy model in the three selected sectors is justified by the high numbers of synergies, in terms of the design (design for modularity, design for disassembly/dismantling), materials (fibre and particle reinforced plastic composites), manufacturing technology (moulding, extrusion, hot pressing, thermobonding) and business models (leasing, renting, PSS, fix-it shops, etc.). The methodology will embrace and focus on large scale demonstration activities in 7 countries and more than 15 demonstrators to address the key components of the circular economy solutions; rethinking product design to shift towards a Design Circular Framework, validation of material and product manufacturing technologies to ensure technical and economic feasibility, new reverse logistics for the recovery of products and parts from consumers or users and into the supply chain, implementation of Innovative business models exploring C2C, B2C and B2B opportunities, and dissemination to raise awareness and knowledge sharing activities on circular economy solutions. Finally, an end-user and Stakeholder platform linking end users with relevant actors from the early design stages will foster second life, reuse and recycle of product and parts as well as material recovery for reintroduction into a circular production chain.

EU28 currently generates 461 million tons per year of ever more complex construction and demolition waste (C&DW) with average recycling rates of around 46%. There is still a significant loss of potential valuable minerals, metals and organic materials all over Europe. The main goal of HISER project is to develop and demonstrate novel cost-effective technological and non-technological holistic solutions for a higher recovery of raw materials from ever more complex C&DW, by considering circular economy approaches throughout the building value chain (from the End-of-Life Buildings to new Buildings). The following solutions are proposed: - Harmonized procedures complemented with an intelligent tool and a supply chain tracking system, for highly-efficient sorting at source in demolition and refurbishment works. - Advanced sorting and recycling technologies for the production and automated quality assessment of high-purity raw materials from complex C&DW. - Development of optimized building products (low embodied energy cements, green concretes, bricks, plasterboards and gypsum plasters, extruded composites) through the partial replacement of virgin raw materials by higher amounts of secondary high-purity raw materials recovered from complex C&DW. These solutions will be demonstrated in demolition projects and 5 case studies across Europe. Moreover, the economic and environmental impact of the HISER solutions will be quantified, from a life cycle perspective (LCA/LCC), and policy and standards recommendations encouraging the implementation of the best solutions will be drafted. HISER will contribute to higher levels of recovered materials from C&DW from 212 Mt in 2014, to 359 Mt in 2020 and 491 Mt by ca. 2030, on the basis of the increase in the recovery of aggregates, from 40% (169 Mt) to more than 80% (394 t) and wood, from 31% (2.4 Mt) to 55% (5 Mt);. Similarly, unlocking valuable raw materials currently not exploited is foreseen, namely some metals and emerging flows.