Recherche sur la refabrication
Nous participons régulièrement à des projets de recherche financés par des fonds publics dans le domaine du remanufacturing.
Politecnico di Milano
POLIMI
prof. Marcello Colledani
Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology and Production Systems Lab
e-mail: marcello.colledani@polimi.it
Ce projet a reçu un financement du programme de recherche et d'innovation Horizon Europe de l'Union européenne dans le cadre de l'accord de subvention n° 101058756.
About the project
European remanufacturing industry is crucial for the sustainable transition of Europe and the advancement of the circular economy, thanks to the savings in energy, materials and functionality that is guaranteed by the process. In fact, the socio- economic benefits of remanufacturing, in terms of number of workers, skills development and technological uptake, are as impactful as the environmental benefits. However, to future-proof the European remanufacturing industry and increase its competitiveness, the obstacles facing the human worker need to be addressed as a matter of strategic urgency. Currently, established remanufacturing sectors recognised the barriers in the limited automation, poor human inclusion, lack of traceability and restricted use of digitalisation.
rEUman aims at developing and demonstrating a novel paradigm of human-centric remanufacturing approach for the European industry, acting at factory and value-chain levels. At the factory level, the main industrial need is to guarantee high regeneration rates of the remanufactured products and to achieve traceability of the remanufacturing process-chain. While at the value-chain level, the main industrial need is to guarantee stability in terms of volume and quality of the post-use products. rEUman shall demonstrate the new remanufacturing paradigm, which is intrinsically human-safe, target-driven in regeneration and certification, flexible while facing variability in post-use parts, robust and replicable to new circular business cases.
Ambition:
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To develop cutting edge remanufacturing approaches (factory level) and integrating them into the value-chain
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To demonstrate functional retention in three sectors (automotive, home appliances and optoelectronics)
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To introduce traceability in remanufacturing by implementing the first remanufacturing-centred digital product passport (DPP)
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To consider operational and economic viability by showcasing complete business cases supported by custom designed training material.
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About the project
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating, with projections indicating that 75% of new cars registered in Europe will be electric by 2030. This shift is driven by regulations phasing out internal combustion engine vehicles in major markets. However, the production of EVs currently generates 80% more CO2e emissions compared to traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. This makes the manufacturing phase the most significant contributor to emissions in the EV lifecycle, yet it also presents the greatest opportunity for emission reduction.
To address these challenges, Design for Circularity (DfC) strategies are being developed across the entire value chain to minimize the environmental impact of EV manufacturing. Despite these efforts, the diversity in EV designs leads to inconsistent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) results, making it difficult to compare and implement effective DfC strategies across different cases. Additionally, the lack of a widely accepted methodology and intellectual property (IPR) issues between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers hinder the interchangeability of technologies and knowledge.
ZEvRA brings together five major OEMs, leading European universities, key industry players, and three members of the 2ZERO partnership to demonstrate a unified circularity methodology. This collaborative effort aims to standardize and streamline the production processes, ensuring that technologies and methodologies are interchangeable and replicable across Europe.
ZEvRA will be supported by advanced digital tools and validated through the creation of a fully circular car, integrating eight prototype components that represent 84% of the total automotive material mix. This project uses the Škoda Enyaq as a baseline to develop and test new technologies.
ZEvRA’s groundbreaking innovations are set to enhance zero-emission practices in the EV lifecycle and value chain. By 2035, the project aims to positively impact the lifecycle of at least 59% of European EVs. Through harmonized methodologies and collaborative efforts, ZEvRA is poised to lead the automotive industry towards a more sustainable and efficient future.
Objectives
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9-Rs-based Design for Circularity methodology
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Validation with 8 zero-emission use cases
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Circular car aiming at 0% virgin material
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Increase of human capital, awareness & acceptability
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Adaptation of circular car models
Outcomes
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Harmonised way of measuring circularity
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Increasing circularity, circular design approaches: Reuse, recycling & CRM recovery
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Circular car prototype test bench ready
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Increased skills, awareness & acceptability
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Improved markets of secondary raw materials
Impacts
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Clean road transport challenge
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World leadership
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Innovative demonstration
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Use acceptability, improved air quality, more circular economy
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angewandten Forschung EV
Dr. Thomas Hipke
Head of Business Unit Lightweight Construction, Textile Technologies and Circular Economy
Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU
Chemnitz, Germany
e-mail: zevra@iwu.fraunhofer.de
Ce projet a reçu un financement du programme de recherche et d'innovation Horizon Europe de l'Union européenne dans le cadre de l'accord de subvention n° 101058756.
Coordinateur
École Polytechnique de Milan
POLIMI
prof. Gianmarco Griffini
Professeur agrégé, Science et technologie des matériaux
e-mail : gianmarco.griffini@polimi.it
Ce projet a reçu un financement du programme de recherche et d'innovation Horizon Europe de l'Union européenne dans le cadre de l'accord de subvention n° 101058756.
Ambition
The Horizon Europe project RECREATE – REcycling technologies for Circular REuse and remanufacturing of fiber-reinforced composite mATErials- focused on developing innovative technologies and strategies to improve the reuse, repair, and recycling of complex composite materials, including carbon fibre reinforced composites (CFRC) and glass fibre reinforced composites (GFRC).
Composite materials are increasingly used in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, wind energy, transportation, and consumer goods due to their lightweight and high-performance properties. At the same time, growing volumes of end-of-life composite waste represent an important environmental and economic challenge. RECREATE addressed this challenge by developing circular solutions that help keep valuable materials and components in use for longer and reduce reliance on virgin raw materials.
During the project, RECREATE developed and demonstrated several innovative technologies at relevant industrial scale, including advanced sorting and inspection systems, dismantling and repair technologies, reusable and reversible composite solutions, and new physico-chemical recycling and upcycling approaches. These solutions aimed to recover high-quality fibres and materials while avoiding downcycling and supporting more sustainable manufacturing processes.
The project also explored digital tools to support environmental and economic assessment, circularity evaluation, and knowledge transfer. In addition, RECREATE contributed to education and skills development through the creation of digital learning resources, including MOOCs, serious games, and digital twins
Objectifs
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Recycled organic fractions for industrial coatings
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Circular reuse and remanufacturing of glass fiber-reinforced composites for boards in transportation sector
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Reuse of end-of-life carbon fiber reinforced composites in modular structures for mobility
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INDAR deboning-on-demand primer for composite materials
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Educational game „Nova Polis“ and MOOC „Fiber-Reinforced Composite Materials for the Circular Economy: Challenges and Opportunities“
Through its activities and demonstrators, RECREATE addressed major European composite application sectors, including transportation, wind energy, aviation, and consumer goods, highlighting the strong replication potential of the developed solutions across Europe and beyond.
APRA Europe supported the communication and dissemination activities and contriubted to the development of the project's MOOC and the integrated environmental and socio-economic sustainability assessment..
A comprehensive RECREATE Results Catalogue presenting the project’s technologies, demonstrators, and outcomes can now be ordered via the RECREATE website.
À propos du projet
Large scale demonstration of new circular economy value-chains based on the reuse of end-of-life fiber reinforced composites.
Glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (GFRP and CFRP) are increasingly used as structural materials in many manufacturing sectors like transport, constructions and energy due to their better lightweight and corrosion resistance compared to metals. Composite recycling is a challenging task. Although mechanical grinding and pyrolysis reached a quite high TRL, landfilling of EoL composites is still widespread since no significant added value in the reuse and remanufacturing of composites is demonstrated.
In the FiberEUse project, various innovation paths were bundled to improve the recycling of composites and make it profitable. The recycled material is to be reutilised in the form of new products in value chains.
FiberEUse was divided into three use cases, each focusing on mechanical and thermal recycling as well as the reprocessing and reuse of EoL composite components. The approaches related to seven industries (automotive, aerospace, sports, construction, sanitary, wind power and creative products) and both carbon and glass fibre reinforced materials.
Cross-industry reutilisation chains were also established in the project. For example, thermally recycled carbon fibres from the aviation industry were used in structural components in the automotive industry or mechanically recycled materials from EoL wind rotor blades were used as the core in a ski. In addition to the technical aspects of recycling technologies, the logistics of EoL materials were also analysed in order to take a holistic approach. New value chains and business scenarios were developed for the new products made from recycled materials. The technical processes of the project were supported by an IT platform that is intended to support the development of products made from recycled materials in the future. In this IT platform, general design rules for products made from recycled materials were linked to materials, their properties and production processes.
Objectives
(i) L'intégration de technologies de refabrication innovantes visant à développer des options de réutilisation rentables pour les composites EoL GFRP et CFRP recyclés mécaniquement ou thermiquement, permettant une facilité d'exploitation, une réduction significative des coûts, la conformité aux directives de l'UE avec une minimisation des impacts environnementaux. De nouvelles chaînes de valeur seront créées conduisant à la réalisation de plusieurs cas de démonstration couvrant différents secteurs manufacturiers. Ils seront soumis à une évaluation du cycle de vie (ACV, ISO 14044/44) et au programme européen de vérification des technologies environnementales (ETV).
(ii) L'élaboration d'une stratégie d'innovation pour la mobilisation et la mise en réseau des parties prenantes de tous les secteurs liés aux composites, des fabricants d'équipement d'origine (OEM) aux fournisseurs de niveau 1, en passant par les opérateurs logistiques, les fournisseurs et exploitants de technologies, les concepteurs et les associations d'utilisateurs finaux. , fournissant une plateforme de communication et de diffusion des résultats. Cela contribuera à surmonter les obstacles transversaux à l’innovation en i) développant une feuille de route commune pour l’alignement des législations régionales, de la réglementation et des méthodologies de tarification et ii) démontrant les avantages économiques et la rentabilité des options de refabrication proposées. Cela favorisera également un changement de paradigme dans la perception du simple « recyclage » à la « valorisation par la réutilisation et la refabrication ».
Use cases
FiberEUse démontrera à grande échelle un ensemble de solutions à la fois rentables sur le plan environnemental et économique pour le traitement et la valorisation des déchets composites EoL provenant de différents secteurs manufacturiers. Une approche holistique basée sur l'utilisation synergique de différentes technologies génériques sera mise en œuvre dans la réalisation de trois cas d'utilisation à grande échelle. Chacun de ces grands cas d'utilisation générera plusieurs autres cas de démonstration pour boucler la boucle du cycle de vie des composites dans différents secteurs industriels dans une perspective d'économie circulaire. Des interconnexions entre les différents cas d’utilisation sont également prévues pour élargir encore l’étendue de la circularisation du secteur composite.
Le projet s'appuie sur la réalisation de trois cas d'usage macro, détaillés dans huit démonstrateurs :
Cas d'utilisation 1 (jaune dans l'image ci-dessous) : Recyclage mécanique des GFRP courts et réutilisation dans des applications personnalisées à valeur ajoutée, notamment le mobilier, les produits sportifs et créatifs. Des technologies de fabrication émergentes telles que l’impression 3D assistée par UV et la métallisation par dépôt physique en phase vapeur seront utilisées.
Cas d'utilisation 2 (vert dans l'image ci-dessous) : Recyclage thermique des fibres longues (verre et carbone) et réutilisation dans des applications de haute technologie et de haute résistance. Le produit d’entrée sera constitué de composants d’éoliennes et d’aérospatiaux EoL. La réutilisation des composites dans l'automobile (composants esthétiques et structurels) et dans le bâtiment sera démontrée par l'application d'une pyrolyse contrôlée et d'une refabrication sur mesure.
Cas d'utilisation 3 (bleu dans l'image ci-dessous) : Inspection, réparation et remise à neuf des produits EoL CFRP dans les applications de haute technologie. Des critères de conception et de fabrication adaptatifs seront mis en œuvre pour permettre une démonstration complète de l’économie circulaire dans le secteur automobile.
Grâce à de nouvelles solutions TIC basées sur le cloud pour l'intégration de la chaîne de valeur, la recherche de nouveaux marchés, l'analyse des obstacles législatifs et l'évaluation du cycle de vie de différentes options de logistique inverse, FiberEUse soutiendra l'industrie dans la transition vers un modèle d'économie circulaire pour les composites.
École Polytechnique de Milan
POLIMI
prof. Marcello Colledani
Département de l'Ingénierie Mécanique
Laboratoire de technologie et de systèmes de production
e-mail : marcello.colledani@polimi.it
Ce projet a reçu un financement du programme de recherche et d'innovation Horizon 2020 de l'Union européenne dans le cadre de la convention de subvention n° H2020-730323-1.
Following the completion of the EU project FiberEUse, the open access book ‘Systemic Circular Economy Solutions for Fiber-Reinforced Composites’ has been published, which presents the solutions developed in the project for the circular management of fibre-plastic composites.