The RECREATE project brings 21 experienced public and private entities and associations from across the EU to the operating scene, distributed into five groups: academic partners; technology providers; post-use products managers and recyclers; end users; and dissemination and exploitation partners.
The first group consists of academic partners and research organizations, as follows: Tampere University; Politecnico di Milano; Fraunhofer IWU and WKI; Icam Quest; University of Patras; Gaiker; and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Of these, the lead partner in the RECREATE project is Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI), ranked as the best public technical university in Italy, and 6th in Europe in the field of engineering. Its importance lies in its well-established and documented experience as a participant and coordinator of EU-funded research projects about the circular economy and composite recycling. Tampere University stands out with recognized expertise in polymers and composites, and unique specialized facilities for single-fibre mechanical testing. Fraunhofer IWU and WKI are known for their crucial NDT, X-ray and radar-based technologies for the assessment of defects and the selection of reusable End-of-Life (EoL) parts. The University of Patras is a recognized expert in the development of dedicated digital tools, big data analysis and socio-economic sustainability assessment, alongside LCA/LCC methodology.
POLIMI, Fraunhofer and Tampere University are partners of the Vanguard initiative and cooperate in other projects related to the circular economy, which creates an opportunity to jointly develop an effective platform for stakeholder engagement activities.
The second group consists of technology providers: Invent; Iris Technology Solutions; Rescoll; and Grifo Multimedia. The key technologies will be delivered by Iris Technology Solutions by developing photonic-based recognition and sorting technology via laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. Invent and Rescoll will design and develop modular composite structures based on detachable joints and dedicated reversible adhesives. Grifo Multimedia will be responsible for developing digital, innovative learning resources.
Next come the post-use products managers and recyclers: Cobat and Carbon Clean-Up. The role of these two recycling SMEs consists of selection and providing suitable sizes and amounts of EoL composite parts to the partners, and the validation of the new technologies through a techno-economic evaluation of the solutions’ competitiveness.
Several partners are involved as end users; SMEs such as Res-T and Benasedo, and large companies such as HEAD Sport; Geven; and EDAG Engineering. The implementation and integration of all the key technologies developed in the project will be assigned to these end-users, which are prominent for their testing facilities where the demonstration of all case studies will be carried out.
Last but not least, the following firms and associations conclude the partnership: APRA Europe; AVK; and Giacomelli Media. These participants will be responsible for public awareness, dissemination and exploitation activities alongside the stakeholder engagement.
