The high-performance requirements requested by the industry and consumers are responsible that currently 17% of total plastic packaging is multilayer material , meaning 3.03 Mt of plastics. Difficulties for recycling it are accentuated, being mostly landfilled or incinerated. MERLIN project has joined a partnership between sorting technology providers, recyclers, research centers, social innovation experts and end-users to design cradle to cradle solutions. This 36-month research project will offer innovative solutions for all the processes required to increase the quality and rate of recycled plastic materials coming from multi-layer packaging waste: (i) SORTING (combining optical sensors, Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and robotics), (ii) DELAMINATION (optimizing depolymerisation and using solvent-based processes), (iii) RECYLING (techniques for repolymerization and upcycling of polymers) and (iv) VALIDATION (developing rigid and flexible packaging solutions and demonstrating circularity of the processes). These solutions will be developed and later validated in a real environment to reach technology readiness level (TRL) 6. This will be complemented with additional techniques and tools for circularity design to increase knowledge and effectiveness in the closure of the European multilayer plastic chain. Finally, transversal activities related to regulation and standardization, safety, sustainability, business, training, dissemination and communication will support to maximize the impact and effectiveness of the project. These actions are aligned with the ones proposed by the European Plastic Strategy to achieve that by 2030 all plastic packaging should be designed to be recyclable or reusable and decrease the quantity of waste generated Potential annual carbon footprint saving that could be achieved recycling all the multilayer waste in Europe could reach 7.42 Mt CO2/year, with a potential economic of €10,605 million and more 106,000 new job positions.

The main objective of POLYNSPIRE is to demonstrate a set of innovative, cost-effective and sustainable solutions, aiming at improving the energy and resource efficiency of post-consumer and post-industrial plastic recycling processes, targeting 100% waste streams containing at least 80% of plastic materials. To this end, three innovation pillars are addressed at TRL7: A) Chemical recycling assisted by microwaves and smart magnetic catalysts as a path to recover plastic monomers and valuable fillers (carbon or glass fibres), B) Advanced additivation and high energy irradiation to enhance recycled plastics quality and C) Valorisation of plastic waste as carbon source in steel industry. Innovations A and B can lead up to 34% of fossil fuel direct reduction for PA and 32% for PU. Approach C can lead to reductions of around 80% of fossil carbon sources in electric arc furnaces. The demonstration is completed by the performance of a rigorous holistic environmental and economic analysis (LCA and LCC) to ensure the industrial feasibility and the accomplishment of environmental restrictions. Efforts are dedicated to analyse non-technological barriers (legislative or standardization) that could hinder the proper innovations deployment. POLYNSPIRE also implies the development of a comprehensive business plan, gathering 7 business models and establishing a cross-linked relation between plastic, chemical and steel manufacturing industries. Its consortium, coordinated by CIRCE, ensures POLYNSPIRE success through the involvement of 4 RTOs, 1 university, 9 large companies, 6 SMEs and 2 multiplier associations. To that end, chemical companies (REPSOL QUIMICA, ARKEMA, NOVAMONT, NUREL and KOR), plastic compounders (BADA) and converters (MAIER), waste managers (IDS), technology developers (CIRCE, NIC, ION, AITIIP, TUe, CSM), equipment and steel manufacturers (FM, CPPE, HTT, FENO), exploitation (VTG), standardisation (DS) and dissemination (EUPC and IKMIB) entities are involved in the consortium.

The CO-PILOT project addresses the field of nanocomposites which has witnessed remarkable progress (compound annual growth rate of 18%) in recent years with many different types of nanocomposites exhibiting radically enhanced properties for a wide range of industrial applications. The CO-PILOT project aims to develop an open access infrastructure for SMEs interested in the production of high quality (multi-)functional nanocomposites on a pilot scale. In CO-PILOT this infrastructure will be prepared for access (‘open acess’) by SME’s beyond the project. It will be able to produce typically 20 to 100 kg nanocomposite product, characterize it and validate its performance. This is sufficient to make management decisions to progress to the next step of new nanocomposite product development. CO-PILOT aims to set new standards for high-quality nanoparticle production with the assistance of in-line nanoparticle dispersion quality monitoring. CO-PILOT chooses to develop a centrifuge module to address the adequate and automated down-stream processing of the nanoparticle dispersions. CO-PILOT will test and validate the pilot line infrastructure. Based on the consultation of SME nanocomposite producers, CO-PILOT has chosen the following range of industrial nanocomposite applications : - flame and smoke inhibiting polymer materials (layered double hydroxides) - acid scavenging used as anti-corrosion and in polymer stabilisation (layered hydroxides) - heat isolating plastics (hollow/porous silica) - light-weight flame inhibiting composites (layered hydroxides combined with hollow/porous silica) - UV protective polymer coatings (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide) - high refractive index, visually transparent polymer (titanium dioxide) - low-refractive index polymer (hollow/porous silica) - anti-glare polymer coatings (hollow/porous silica) - magnetic recoverable catalyst nano-composite beads (magnetite).