Modern industrial companies aim to extend their products with services as fundamental value-added activities. The key potential of the concept of Product Service System (PSS), besides radical improvements in the use of products, is a reduction of environmental footprint of products and services. The overall footprint of PSS is still insufficiently investigated. The services within PSS are an important, insufficiently used source of (digitalized) data on the product and its use. It is likely that digital means facilitating provision of consistent “track and trace” information on the origin, composition and entire life cycle not only of a product but of all services offered and used around the product, will offer important contribution towards achievement of full circularity for manufacturing. The key idea of PSS-Pass is to investigate how extension of DPP to Digital Product Service System Passport (DPSSP) can be effectively achieved and how it will allow for improved circularity of the manufacturing industry. The overarching hypothesis is that LCA underpinned by Machine Learning (ML) methods and informed by dynamic data paves the way to more accurate LCA while supporting PSS life cycle decision making. The collected and sharable data from DPSSP will allow to effectively apply ML as well as Digital Twin (DT) for more reliable decision-making processes concerning circularity of PSS. The project will provide Methodological Framework for definition, development and update of DPSSP, Digital Environment for DPSSP built on existing interoperability architectures, set of ontologies for improved interoperability at DPSSP Environment, novel DT-based Simulation Framework, for modelling standardized and interoperable DTs for PSS lifecycle analysis, and AI based method/tool to forecasts the environmental impact of PSS. The PSS-Pass solutions will be tested and evaluated within 3 pilots in diverse sectors: home appliances, complex equipment, and textile industry.

1.2 Million tons of mixed plastics arise from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) treatment in Europe and this quantity is still growing. WEEE plastics often contain undesired additives that hamper recycling in Europe. 75% of WEEE is currently exported to Asia where it is recycled to secondary plastics containing undesired (hazardous) substances or ending up in landfill where leaching occurs. Hence for WEEE plastics a closed loop solution is needed. PLAST2bCLEANED’s aim is to develop a recycling process for WEEE plastics in a technically feasible, environmentally sound and economically viable manner. To fulfil this aim, PLAST2bCLEANED addresses the recycling of the most common WEEE plastics acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) that contain up to 20wt% brominated flame retardants (BFR) and up to 5wt% of the synergist antimony trioxide (ATO). PLAST2bCLEANED will close three loops: (1) polymer, (2) bromine, and (3) ATO. Key technologies developed within the project are: (1) improved sorting of HIPS and ABS that contain BFR from other polystyrene and ABS fractions; (2) dissolution of WEEE plastics in superheated solvents; (3) separation of additives to concentrate BFR and ATO fractions for recycling; (4) energy efficient recovery of solvent and of polymer. The developed technology will be integrated in a pilot facility with capacity of 2 kg/hr (TRL 5/6) delivering polymer samples. The developed technology can be applied to similar waste streams from other sectors, e.g. automotive. The combination of improved sorting and use of superheated solvents offers an economic and environmental advantage. First calculations indicate a sound business case. The consortium is well equipped to develop this technology and consist of partners to cover the whole value chain.