Circular Process for Eco-Designed Bulky Products and Internal Car Parts. ECOBULK.

Objectives

Develop the Design Circular framework and redesign supply and value chains for composite products for internal car parts, furniture and building components.
A systemic approach will be adopted to engaged all relevant actors in redesigning the supply and value chains for modular composite products for three large industries; automotive, furniture, building components.

Sub-objective 1.1: Develop Design Circular methodologies and tool-boxes for cross-sectorial application. Design strategies, methods and tools for circular designed products will be developed focusing on enabling multiple lifecycles. The strategy will focus on high modularity, robust frames/skeletons, customizable/personalizable products, attachable modular parts, and innovative fixing and fastener solutions following partners’ specific industrial expertise. Design for ‘X’ (where X will be Product Life Extension, Maintenance, Reuse, Refurbishment, Remanufacturing, Recycling, Disassembly and Modularity) will be taken into account along with product stages and its usage. Cross sectorial understanding of circular design concept and framework will be ensured through the consortium through training and workshops.

Sub-objective 1.2: Redesign the supply and value chains for circular designed composite products. Case studies will be conducted and validated for the three Ecobulk product lines engaging relevant partners, main stakeholders and end-users. An assessment of the current linear models and the impact and gained value with EcoBulk concept will be carried out by considering the circularity indicators methodology (Granta) and based on specific partner’s expertise. Market, manufacturers and end-user needs will be identified through market studies and user surveys. Redesign of supply and value chains for product lines will be completed and demonstrated along the entire chain, from resources to marketed products engaging B2B, B2C, and C2C considerations for clear upgrade, refurbishment, re-use and recycle strategies that will lead to a more circular model.

KPIs:By M9 a baseline description of current design considerations, material choices, and value chain for the product lines will be completed. By M15 a description detailing the redesign supply and value chains for the three product lines will be reported. By M18, “Design circular” strategies will be completed providing specific guidance and recommendations for circular design products in product lines. By M24, a follow up report will provide cases of study for at least 3 specific products in each of the product lines. At least 4 training sessions and workshops related to circular design strategies will be completed before M18.

Develop and implement a Database Management Plan, an innovative Quality Assurance System, and  Tracking and Labelling Systems.
A Data Management, an innovative QA, and Tracking and Labelling Systems will tackle process integration as it is essential for characterising the complex interactions between unit operations systems and enabling the generation of predictive engineering models to guide process optimization, process control, resources use and closing the entire loop.

• The Database Management System will be developed building on partners’ specific and validated expertise and will enable the collection, analysis, and store of performance and operational data obtained from product designs, manufacturing, services, logistics and (re-)manufacture, and recycle processes as well as data for material stream flows, composition and effectiveness of technologies for material production.

• The QAS and Decision System Support (DSS) will enable manufacturers, distributors and collectors to process the data produced in the supply chain: results from testing, material properties and requirements, regulatory compliance, design costs, quality of the recovered components or materials and availability, time, energy and labour intensity of repair and (re-)manufacturing, and feedback from the end-users.

• Innovate labelling with supply chain information such as ingredients tags and provenance tracking will be included in the platforms, tested and prototyped for the products.

KPIs: M30, the Database Management system will be developed, tested and fully operative and by M42 the DSS and QAS will be initially validated relying on the Database. By M36, The QAS, DSS and will be operative for further validation and the Tracking and Labelling Systems implemented into the products.

Develop and implement an end-user and stakeholder platform and strategies to encourage shifting towards the circular economy model.
Building on the Data Management System, an online stakeholder platform will be developed to link relevant stakeholders along the supply and value chains, from the design to the marketed product and its usage cycles and, thus, facilitating the implementation of upgrade, refurbishment, reuse, and collection and recycling strategies. Product maintenance and repair service strategies after it is handed over to the customer will be developed. The online platform will have a twofold objective:

• Bring end-user closer to design, production, service, collection and EoL phases through an online bidirectional platform (website and/or application) relying on product labelling and tracking strategies. The platform will provide product information, facilitate product maintenance and repair services, and foster second life and product/part reuse and recycling strategies.

• Provide relevant stakeholders (designers, manufactures, distributors, collectors) with end-user feedback and information of product life and usage cycles. The platform will be implemented in at least three demosites (Lipor (Portugal), Warwickshire (UK) and Paris (France)). The bidirectional platform will enable identification of consumption patterns, customization, development of value-added goods, and avoidance of overproduction while closing the loop in the QAS, as well as aiming at influencing local reuse and recycling behaviour based on the waste hierarchy and product, part and material flows within the different circles of the model.

KPIs: A Beta version of the platform will be available and tested by M30 at the demosites. By M39, the fully implemented system will avoid at least 60 % the product amount to be landfilled in comparison with the current systems.

Demonstrate the implementation of the circular economy concept and framework in solutions for automotive, furniture, and building components sectors.
The entire ECOBULK concept will be demonstrated at all relevant stages for the selected sectors; from the design to market as well as the systemic approach. TRL7 will be validated for all the technological components at the partner’s facilities before product demonstration at representative demosites. Moreover, business model proposal and other non-technological components aiming at boosting upgrade, refurbishment and reuse of products and parts and recycle of materials will be also validated at demosites.

Sub-objective 4.1: Demonstrate the circular design concept for EcoBulks products. The circular design methodology and the tools will be demonstrated by modular circular designed products. It will be first completed at prototype level to validate modularity, assembling, disassembling and dismantling strategies and then in actual demonstrator under real conditions.

Sub-objective 4.2: Validate material and manufacturing technologies choices for the circular designed products. Material formulation for intermediate products favouring high recovered material integration and recyclability will be validated at TRL 7 or above; (1) pellets and agglomerates with high cross-sectorial application for compression/injection moulding and extrusion; (2) innovative binder systems (3) nonwovens composites by airlay and bonding (4) wood based composite products using hot pressing, (5) multilayer products. Current available production lines will be tuned and adjusted to manufacture EcoBulk’s products.

Sub-objective 4.3: Demonstrate Ecobulk’s product modularity and high potential for upgrade, refurbishment, reuse and recycle at product, part and material level. Upgrade, refurbish, reuse, and recycling strategies at product, part and material level and relying on product modularity will be demonstrated using assembly, disassembly and dismantling strategies considered before-hand during the design stages and following specific demonstration plans at representative service conditions.

Sub-objective 4.4: Demostrate Ecobulk’s solutions at showcases and pilot level. Demonstrators of actual products will be showcase at areas with high public exposure for each product line. a) automotive in MicroCab H2EV model and actual FIAT model. b) Furniture showcase at Moretti Compact showrooms, office and library furniture at Cranfield University, TU Delft, Lipor, Coventry University and Warwick University, c) building components installation at Cranfield University, TU Delft, Lipor, Coventry University, Warwick Universityand KymiRing demonstrator facilities (See Table 4 for details). User acceptance testing will be carried out at showcase and pilots’ locations through surveys and interviews to establish performance and level of conformity with user needs.

KPIs: By M18 product prototypes will be delivered. By M24 equipment and facilities will be ready for the remanufacturing of the circular designed products (recycled material >80%) and by M30, products will be installed at the representative demosites. By M39, disassembling, remanufacturing and recycling strategies will increase direct product and part reuse, remanufacture and recycling by 65%.

Validate solutions for collection, sorting and pre-treatments of current heterogeneous Bulky and ELV waste streams for material recovering, integration and revalorization into Ecobulk’s circular economy model .
Advanced solutions for collection, sorting and pretreatments of current heterogeneous waste streams coming from linear designed products will be evaluated. The optimal use of crushing techniques, automated sorting and treatment technologies for last remaining fractions and mixed materials with the integration of new information technologies will be established. The technologies include, but are not limited to: TITECH, FLYING BEAM® and AUTOSORT from TOMRA for MBW and Post-Shredder Treatment from BELLVER for End-of-Life Vehicles. Integrating DSS and QAS in existing sorting facilities for the ELVs and Municipal Bulky fraction will enable the recovering of high purity second raw materials ready to be used. These systems will improve the identification and characterization of incoming wastes and selection of recovered materials after sorting treatment, and will assess technological solutions to improve waste sorting and handling processes towards high recycling rates.

KPIs: By M24, the advanced solutions for collection, sorting and pre-treatments will increase in at least 5% the recyclable materials that could be used in the EcoBulk’s products from the current ELVs and urban bulky wastes and the products will be able to be formed by a 10 % of external recycled material (plastics and fibres).

Develop and validate innovative business models and an exploitation strategy to translate products and services along the entire Ecobulk’s circular concept into attractive value propositions.
Business models will be developed maximizing retained value for the product and ensuring profitability of products and services during the product life and its usage cycles and the involvement of all relevant stakeholders; from designers to waste managers. Models to be analysed for Ecobulk’s concept include but are not limited to: collaborative and sharing models -leasing, buy-back, product-service systems (PSS), peer-to-peer (P2P), user driven platforms-; upgrade, refurbish and repair models –fix-it-shops and DIY maintenance–, and collection plus redistribution for re-use, remanufacturing or recycling. Key exploitable results identification will be promoted from early stages in the project by specific workshops and one-to-one follow up and the exploitation opportunities identified in the project will be further analysed. Furthermore, IPR management will ensure technology innovation.

KPIs: By M24: Determine the cost, timing, and market demands for candidate products and identify and assess impacts of the circular supply chain. By M39, it will be ensured results of activities are available through the channels develope.

Demonstrate the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the proposed supply and value chain.
A Life Cycle Thinking approach will be used for the evaluation and optimisation of the environmental, economic, and social effects of EcoBulk project across the full supply chain including the design, manufacture, distribution, use, collection, and reuse and recycling, using environmental and socioeconomic indicators and methodologies such as LCA, LCC, and S-LCA versus selected benchmark. The environmental evaluation will focus on the GHG emissions, energy use, water consumption, biological diversity and land use. The economic sustainability will be evaluated as Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) commercial viability, ROI, payback, NPV, process efficiency and output of desired product. In regards to social impact acceptability, social well-being, energy security, and resource conservation and rural development and workforce training will be assessed as well as H&S legislation and standard fulfilment. Integrative, crosscutting and systems-level activities to understand aggregate effects will be developed and circularity indicators based on Granta’s methodology and the industrial ecology system analysis will be used to assess the transition towards more circular economy models while identifying opportunities for improvement in the entire supply and value chains.

KPIs: By M12, a report analysing the main regulatory frameworks in place in the region will be available. By M21, a report for the installation of the products in the demosites will be produced, as well as a certificate allowing their use post-project. By M39 LCA will show a resource reduction of at least 50 % compared to the current linear model, and meets targets for consumptive water use, wastewater, and air emissions. Creation of new jobs (or projected creation according to impact assessment) within the consortium of at least 3% by 2025 and outside of at least 150k by 2030. ROI will show a reduction of at least 15%.

Address the barriers to facilitate the transition towards circular economy and assess side-effects and risks of the products.
Current and future gaps that could act as barriers to the development of a circular model will be evaluated. Existing bottlenecks on transition from linear to circular approach in value and supply chains will be identified as well as existing and in the pipeline solutions to overcome them. Policy recommendations to foster the near-zero waste economy will be proposed. Examples include: lack of internalisation of externalities through policy, lack of resource pricing (cost recovery and pricing for the recovered materials); lack of skills and investment in circular product design and production; lack of enablers to improve cross-cycle and cross-sector performance due inter alia to non-alignment of power and incentives for transformation between actors within and across value chains; lack of consumer and business acceptance regarding consumer-as-user. A comprehensive risk register will be developed early in the project lifetime and appropriate mitigation strategies will be defined by the consortium members.

KPIs: By M24, a first reviewing of the barriers to overcome for the implementation of the EcoBulk’s circular approach will be developed and by M39, organisations, countries and EU specific recommendations will be provided to support transition.

Maximise promotion and impacts of the project results on the target market and contribute to the creation of new jobs and training.
Strategic communication will be carried out in order to engage a range of stakeholders (designers, manufacturers, distributors, end-users, waste management and treatment, public authorities and so on), encourage a culture of innovation and experimentation around the circular economy externally and internally (particularly amongst staff dealing with waste, procurement and re-use organisations), promote the accomplishments of the project, increase consumer acceptance, and accelerate the expansion of the circular supply and value chain. Communication activities will include distribution of technical and non-technical information to internal and external stakeholders through channels, using traditional and digital media. The project will reach the target audiences that promote the benefits of the circular economy, highlighting the role in creating green jobs, spurring innovation and benefitting the environment, and will provide training to enable practice oriented education.

KPIs:By M24, use various traditional and emerging media channels to increase awareness of and support for the promotion of the circular economy, technical accomplishments and its benefits. By M42, educate audiences about the social benefits of a strong circular industry, including the creation of new and green jobs.