FiberEUse
Large scale demonstration of new circular economy value-chains based on the reuse of end-of-life fiber reinforced composites
- 📅 · Period:
Jun 2017 – Sep 2021 (Feb 2022) - 💰 · Funding:
European Commission, Horizon 2020: Innovation Action. Total funding amount: €11.9M 🔬 · Programme:
H2020: Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials.🏛 · Coordinator:
Politecnico di Milano, Italy🤝 · Partners:
21 academic/industrial institutions, 7 EU countries⭐ · My Role:
Funded collaborator🏫 · My Affiliation:
Research Fellow, Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano (Italy)🏷️ · Keywords:
Circular economy, Fiber reinforced composites, Glass fibers, Carbon fibers, Reuse, Recycling, Remanufacturing, Additive manufacturing, Sustainable materials, Industrial manufacturing, Circular design.
Overview
Glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (GFRP and CFRP) are increasingly used as structural materials in many manufacturing sectors like transport, construction, 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 End-of-Life (EoL) composites is still widespread since no significant added value in the re-use and remanufacturing of composites is demonstrated. The FiberEUse project aims at integrating, in a holistic approach, different innovation actions aimed at enhancing the profitability of composite recycling and reuse in value-added products. The project is based on the realization of three macro use-cases, further detailed in eight demonstrators: Use-case 1: Mechanical recycling of short GFRP and re-use in added-value customized applications, including furniture, sports, and creative products. Emerging manufacturing technologies like UV-assisted 3D-printing and metallization by Physical Vapor Deposition will be used. Use-case 2: Thermal recycling of long fibers (glass and carbon) and re-use in high-tech, high-resistance applications. The input product will be EoL wind turbines and aerospace components. The re-use of composites in automotive (aesthetic and structural components) and building will be demonstrated by applying controlled pyrolysis and custom remanufacturing. Use-case 3: Inspection, repair, and remanufacturing for EoL CFRP products in high-tech applications. Adaptive design and manufacturing criteria will be implemented to allow for a complete circular economy demonstration in the automotive sector. Through new cloud-based ICT solutions for value-chain integration, scouting of new markets, analysis of legislation barriers, life cycle assessment for different reverse logistic options, FiberEUse will support the industry in the transition to a circular economy model for composites. 1
European Commission n.d. FiberEUse: Large scale demonstration of new circular economy value-chains based on the reuse of end-of-life fiber reinforced composites Available at CORDIS. DOI: 10.3030/730323
Politecnico di Milano (IT) 🇮🇹
Rivierasca SPA (IT) 🇮🇹
Holonix SRL (IT) 🇮🇹
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Innovation & Technology S.L. (ES) 🇪🇸
MAIER Scoop (ES) 🇪🇸
Tampere University (FI) 🇫🇮
University of Strathclyde (UK) 🇬🇧
INVENT Innovative Verbundwerkstofferealisation Und Vermarktung Neuertechnologien GMBH (DE) 🇩🇪
HEAD sport GMBH (AT) 🇦🇹
DesignAustria (AT) 🇦🇹
Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association Europe (BE) 🇧🇪
Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (IT) 🇮🇹
Novellini SPA (IT) 🇮🇹
Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation (ES) 🇪🇸
BATZ Sociedad Cooperativa (ES) 🇪🇸
Aernnova Engineering Division SAU (ES) 🇪🇸
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung EV (DE) 🇩🇪
EDAG Engineering GMBH (DE) 🇩🇪
Green Coat SRL (IT) 🇮🇹
Saubermacher Dienstleistungs AG (AT) 🇦🇹
AVK-Industrievereinigung Verstarktekunststoffe EV (DE) 🇩🇪
⭐️
My contribution:
- Materials: Experimental work on recycled Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) and Carbon Fiber (CF) feedstocks, including material characterization for UV-assisted Direct Ink Writing (DIW) 3D printing and Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) metallization.
- Additive Manufacturing: Process optimization using recycled composite feedstocks via UV-assisted direct ink writing (DIW) and indirect Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) for molds.
- Design: design and fabrication of circular economy product applications for DIW and indirect FFF, mainly connected to furniture, decoration, tooling, automotive, and sport sectors. Development of the FiberEUse Materials Library, a tangible-digital system documenting material properties and design potential of recycled composites.
- Dissemination: Publications, conference presentations, participation in community outreach events, project reporting and deliverables.
- Project management: Reporting and research deliverable preparation connected to my key areas (one report publicly available plus confidential deliverables).
Research and dissemination output connected to my work
- 📚 Publications: 6 Journal articles (1 cover paper), 3 Book chapters, 4 Conference Papers (1 nominee for best paper)
- ⚙️ Technology Transfer: 3 on Zenodo, FiberEUse Materials Library (Virtual counterpart).
- 🎤 Presentations: Work presented at academic conferences and industrial events, including Enel Green Power Cascade (Rome, 2019)
- 📢 Dissemination & outreach: Work presented at community outreach events, such as Milano Manifattura Camp 2019, and exhibited at international design fairs, including Milano Design Week 2021; featured in news press, blog and video.
- The FiberEUse Project: Tackling the Challenges of Composite Recycling AZO CleanTech, May 2021.
- FuoriSalone 2021 in Tortona: an investigation into the future Interni, Sep 2021.
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FiberEUse: and life (from waste) returns to circulate AT Superstudio Magazine, Aug 2021.
Journal articles
- Romani A*, Caba S, Suriano R, Levi M (2023) Recycling carbon fibers through additive manufacturing: reusable components in the automotive sector. Applied Sciences, 13, 10, 5848. DOI: 10.3390/app13105848 Selected as the issue cover paper
- Romani A*, Tralli P, Levi M, Turri S, Suriano R (2022) Metallization of recycled glass fiber reinforced polymers processed by UV-assisted 3D printing. Materials, 15, 6242. DOI: 10.3390/ma15186242
- Romani A, Mantelli A, Tralli P, Turri S, Levi M, Suriano R* (2021) Metallization of thermoplastic polymers and composites 3D printed by fused filament fabrication. Technologies, 9, 3, 49. DOI: 10.3390/technologies9030049
- Mantelli A, Romani A, Suriano R*, Levi M, Turri S (2021) Direct ink writing of recycled composites with complex shapes: process parameters and ink optimization. Advanced Engineering Materials, 23, 9, 2100116. DOI: 10.1002/adem.202100116
- Mantelli A, Romani A, Suriano R*, Diani M, Colledani M, Sarlin E, Turri S, Levi M (2021) UV-assisted 3D printing of polymer composites from thermally and mechanically recycled carbon fibers. Polymers, 13, 5, 726. DOI: 10.3390/polym13050726
- Romani A, Mantelli A, Suriano R*, Levi M, Turri S (2020) Additive re-manufacturing of mechanically recycled end-of-life glass fiber-reinforced polymers for value-added circular design. Materials, 13, 16, 3545. DOI: 10.3390/ma13163545
Book chapters
- Mantelli A*, Romani A, Suriano R, Levi M, Turri S (2022) Additive manufacturing of recycled composites. In: Colledani M, Turri S (eds) Systemic Circular Economy Solutions for Fiber Reinforced Composites. DIAEC Series. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-22352-5_8
- Romani A*, Suriano R, Mantelli A, Levi M, Tralli P, Laurila J, Vuoristo P (2022) Composite finishing for reuse. In: Colledani M, Turri S (eds) Systemic Circular Economy Solutions for Fiber Reinforced Composites. DIAEC Series. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-22352-5_9
- Romani A*, Prestini F, Suriano R, Levi M (2022) Material library system for circular economy: tangible-intangible interaction for recycled composite materials. In: Colledani M, Turri S (eds) Systemic Circular Economy Solutions for Fiber Reinforced Composites. DIAEC Series. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-22352-5_18
Conference papers
- Romani A*, Rognoli V, Levi M (2023) Speculative tinkering on circular materials through 3D printing. In: Vaes K, Verlinden J (eds) Connectivity and Creativity in Times of Conflict. Cumulus Proceedings. DOI: 10.26530/9789401496476-063
- Romani A*, Rognoli V, Levi M (2023) Fostering circular materials within the design practice: materials and product library system. In: Lazet A (eds) Design for Adaptation. Cumulus Proceedings. ISSN 2490-046X.
- Romani A*, Levi M (2021) Indirect 3D printing of recycled glass fibres from end-of-life products: towards a design engineering approach to circular design. In: Schnitzer H, Braunegg S (eds) Proceedings of the 20th European Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production. 515–530. DOI: 10.3217/978-3-85125-842-4-10
- Romani A*, Mantelli A, Levi M (2019) Circular design for value-added remanufactured end-of-life composite material via additive manufacturing technology. In: Segalàs J, Lazzarini B (eds) Circular Europe for Sustainability: Design, Production and Consumption. 491–512. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Nominee for the Best Paper - Early Career Researcher category
Tools
- FiberEUse Library, Virtual library. Available at: fibereuselibrary.com/
Technology transfer repositories
- Romani A, Prestini F (2024) FiberEUse Library - Virtual library. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10562543
- Romani A (2023) FiberEUse Library - Physical structures. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4672607
- Romani A, Mantelli A (2021) FFF Finishing Torture Test for PVD. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4672609