VARIMIT 4.0

Research for the mitigation of uncertainties associated with the variability of recycled plastic materials from heterogeneous sources.

GENERAL DATA:

Program: AEIs. 2021
Referencia: AEI-010500-2021-116
RESOLUTION Date: 06/09/2021
Execution date: 09/04/2021-31/03/2022

PRESENTATION AND OBJECTIVES:

The industrial sector related to the manufacture and transformation of plastic materials is of great importance at national level, both in terms of turnover (those associated with the CEP represent 0.87% of GDP) and the number of companies, mostly SMEs. Within the sector, the plastics recycling subsector is clearly expanding, as revealed by the annual sectoral study conducted by CEP: “The Plastics Sector 2020”. The digital transformation of this industry, usually made up of small companies, is crucial to increase their competitiveness, and the commitment to R&D and the application of new emerging technologies is key to achieving this.

The project falls within the domain of the industry dedicated to the recycling of plastic from heterogeneous sources, i.e. plastic from different sources, such as factory rejects, end-of-life products, etc. Recycling companies collect these materials and classify, pre-treat, combine and additive them to transform them into new grades that can be marketed under the recycled material label. The role of these companies in increasing the circularity of the sector is key, but in order to achieve this, it is necessary to get these materials approved in customer applications to replace the virgin material currently used, a path on which numerous barriers of different types (economic, organizational, infrastructure, interaction, design, technical) are encountered.
The main objective of this project is to work on how the plastic recycling industry can mitigate some of the barriers it usually encounters in order to introduce recycled materials in more applications in the automotive sector, and thus contribute to the recyclability and circular economy objectives set by the European Community for the sector. Specifically, the main focus of the project is to study the variability of recycled materials from different perspectives in order to establish appropriate measures and methodologies to mitigate them. To this end, a research project is proposed in which various digitization techniques are combined with experimental research at laboratory level, with the following specific objectives:

– Analyze the sources of variability in the recycling process associated with the origin of the materials, their characteristics, and their mixing and additivation process until a marketable grade is formed.
– Apply data analysis and machine learning techniques to the existing data history of a recycling company to explore the possibility of extracting mixing rules to digitize the process.
– Investigate which assays are most appropriate for quantifying and monitoring the variability of a material in the recycling industry.
– To quantify the variation from batch to batch, and over time, of target properties of a material to be marketed, under defined specifications.
– Establish procedures to approximate test data from material models (digitization) for use in simulation that incorporate variability intrinsically.
– Propose process or product simulation methodologies that incorporate variability to analyze their robustness.

The purpose of this project is also to contribute to the path towards a philosophy of respect for the environment and the concept of circular economy without compromising the quality of the final consumer products. In addition to the environmental benefit, including recycled materials in manufacturing processes also saves money on raw material purchases in the industrial sector and minimizes the extraction of additional natural resources.

Therefore, this project is committed to reducing the environmental impact of the life cycle of its products, aligned with the European H2030 strategy and with the challenges proposed by the European Commission, through the development of new products with a greater differential value compared to those currently marketed.

This proposal therefore combines two key concepts set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined in the new 2030 agenda approved by the United Nations, which both our country and the rest of Europe have adopted as their own objectives.

Economic Growth by accelerating the Digital Transformation of our Industry and Society as a means to ensure its present and future competitiveness and sustainability (SDGs 8 and 9).
Environmental protection, focusing on the circular design of materials, components and systems for clean energy production; as well as the development of technologies for proper waste management (SDG 7) and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (SDG 13).

PARTICIPATING ENTITIES:

SPANISH PLASTICS CENTER
INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE ARAGÓN
ZATEC SA
CITSALP SL

BUDGET:

TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET: 200,221.50 €.
TOTAL BUDGET ITAINNOVA: 88.351,00 €.

FINANCING:

TOTAL PROJECT FINANCING: 145,519.00 €.
TOTAL FINANCING ITANNOVA: 57.428,00 €.
The VARIMIT project has been supported by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Agrupaciones AEIs Program).