For the last 54 months, the ECOBULK project has been a large-scale European initiative to demonstrate that re-using, refurbishing, and recycling composite products is possible, profitable, sustainable and appealing. The project took reference products in the automotive, furniture and construction industries and redesigned them to be part of a circular chain. The multi-disciplinary project team came from a consortium of 30 companies that included actors in all lifecycle stages, so that the new products could be produced, used and re-circulated in real life and commercially viable scenarios.
Want to know more about the project goals? Watch the introductory video:
In each of the relevant industries, prototype products where designed and produced according to guidelines and a circular design framework developed by the Technical University Delft. In automotive, some central dashboard parts where redesigned to incorporate recycled composites recovered from automotive shredder residue. In furniture, a new modular concept was combined with new particle board production methods that now allow incorporating 50% recycled particle board content in manufacturing. For light constructions, new materials were made using the GFRP waste from wind turbines as reinforcement in plastic matrices. These materials are strong, durable, weatherproof and 100% circular at end-of-life.
Want to know about the ECOBULK prototypes? Watch the results video above.
If you want to know more about the project, you can visit the website or contact the GS with your questions. The website contains the various reports and publications from the project which you can download and read for yourself.
Part of the legacy is also the 3 learning modules that walk you through the lessons learned during the project on design for circularity, circular composite materials and the supporting information systems and technologies necessary to enable circularity. You can follow these at ecobulk.moodlecloud.com.
