IMPLICIT

Highlighting the lack of recycling of auxiliary materials used in the composite production.

IMPLICIT develops a circular economy system for the recycling of auxiliary materials such as vacuum bags, breather fabrics and bleeding cloths, using a combination of mechanical, physical and chemical recycling methods to recover the original polymers.

Despite advances in the recycling of the composites themselves, these auxiliary materials are primarily disposed through landfill or incineration. This poses a significant challenge to achieving the European Union’s 2030 recycling targets.

IMPLICIT seeks to close the life cycle of these auxiliary materials by reintroducing the recovered polymers into sectors like automotive and urban furniture. This will not only reduce dependence on fossil resources, but also minimise the environmental impact of these materials.

The project involves a consortium of companies and technology centres that cover the entire product value chain, ensuring a comprehensive and collaborative approach to tackling this challenge.

Eurecat participates through the Polymeric and Composite Processes Unit, responsible for valorizing plastic materials from waste from the composites process (PET-based fungible materials). Compounding will be carried out to improve the properties of the material recovered by other partners and it will be processed to obtain multifilaments for the textile industry.