Border regions

Date of beginning : 01/10/2024                                              End date : 30/09/2028

Overall budget of the Project : 2 892 128.94€

ERDF funding for the whole consortium :  1 735 277.34€ (350 000€ for ULille) – funding rate of 60%)

Objectives of the Project :

Although many plastic materials are already being curtailed today and some of them are actually recycled, we see that plastics contaminated with brominated flame retardants (non-compliant with REACH standards) are not or not sufficiently recycled and are incinerated or, even worse, landfilled.

The CIRCOPLAST project aims to address this situation and develop an innovative extraction technology to remove brominated flame retardants from plastic waste. Indeed, the reuse of these "difficult" plastics as new raw materials significantly reduces the amount of plastic waste.

The CIRCOPLAST project builds on the results obtained in the framework of the INTERREG FWVL VALBREE project and focuses on the development of a green and innovative process without the use of toxic solvents and using state-of-the-art technologies (supercritical fluids, UV-visible radiation and enzymatic processes). The VALBREE consortium has succeeded in demonstrating an innovative process at the laboratory scale. In order to increase the economic feasibility of the method, the Interreg VI project, CIRCOPLAST will investigate whether the batch process can be converted into a continuous extrusion process and will look for synergies with other decontamination techniques. To this end, a twin-screw extruder will be equipped with UV-visible lamps, an area where scCO2 extraction is possible and co-solvents will be added in such a way as to allow the extraction of brominated components during the extrusion process. In addition, biological/enzymatic recycling will be developed to recycle polyurethane materials, which are also often considered difficult-to-recycle polymers and functionalized with various prohibited flame retardants.

A second important pillar of the project is the development of a new generation of polymer formulations based on recycled building blocks on the one hand and sustainable building blocks of bio-based origin on the other. This second pilot project will therefore use bio-based lignin building blocks to produce a new generation of polymers and flame retardants.

Expected results : 

The CIRCOPLAST project developments will enable companies in the three regions to adopt advanced technologies and innovative processes that are economically viable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. This advantage will enable companies such as plastics recyclers and converters to develop unique know-how in the field of reprocessing recycled plastics and upcycling them as a new raw material. The final goal is to make a significant change to the current situation and promote the transition to a circular economy for plastics that meets quality standards, safety requirements and environmental considerations.

CIRCOPLAST's cross-border approach draws on the joint expertise of the partners to offer synergistic solutions to companies in the region. The integration of recyclates into a product requires not only skills in plastics processing and recycling, but also expertise in stream characterization and evaluation of the properties of finished products. By combining the unique expertise of the partners, it may be possible to provide solutions even for polymers that are difficult to recycle today.

Partners : CENTEXBEL (Ghent) and VITO (Mol): extraction of contaminants by extrusion under supercritical liquids, selection of solvents (UGent)); MATERIA NOVA (Mons): chemical and biological recycling and chemistry of polyurethanes, UMET_ULILLE/CNRS (Lille): decontamination by irradiation) and CREPIM (Bruay-la-Buissière): characterization of fire properties and fireproofing of polymers).

Contact (ULille) : philippe.supiot[at]univ-lille[point]fr 

Website : under construction 

Date of beginning: 01/10/2024                                              
End date: 30/09/2028 Total budget of the Project: 3 198 576.96€

Total budget of the Project: 3 198 576.96€
Amount of ERDF funding for ULille : 137 180,32€ (funding rate 60%)

Main goals of the Project:

The objective of the CLUED-O project is the development of innovative and efficient solid oxide fuel cells that will operate below 650°C for autonomous electricity and heat production from European hydrogen networks (existing and future). 

The skills of the laboratories, research centers and SME specialized in engineering associated in CLUED-O, allow to consider the development of cells capable of operating not only in fuel cell mode, but also in electrolysis mode, at temperatures below 650°C. These two points (mixed operating mode and operating temperature) present a notable improvement for this type of systems. 

CLUED-O aims at the development of devices with increased durability for better performance in use, thanks to the hybridization of advanced deposition processes, which will allow the optimization of the stacking of the constituent layers of cells. The sustainability of the systems being strongly related to the quality of the interfaces between the layers, the priority will be placed on industrializable deposition processes in the geographical area concerned by the project and to simplify the choice of auxiliary components while anticipating component recycling. 

Expected results:

CLUED-O is organised around 2 main axes : 

The first axis of the project will aim at improving existing cells with the deposition of controlled and sustainable microstructure cathode on commercial half-cells (fast track). The optimized cells will be assembled to form a stack. At the end of the project, the conditions for integration into a pilot will be studied with the aim of an industrial transfer.

The second axis of the project will focus on the development of complete 3rd generation cells on metal support (slow track). In parallel, the recyclability of all components will be studied and completed by a life cycle and environmental impact analysis of components and implementation processes. The project will also be subject to a socio-economic analysis.

The final objective of CLUED-O is to achieve TRL7 in real operating conditions by leading to a demonstrator.

The innovation that will result from the project will allow considering in the cross-border area, the assembly of devices developed in fast track and slow track, to develop its leadership in surface treatment processes by meeting the needs of the industrial fabric and to develop a recycling activity for critical fuel cell materials.

Responsable scientifique : Sylvie Daviero-Minaud

Contact coordinator: ahmadou.ly[at]materianova[point]be

Contact Ulille: sylvie.daviero[at]univ-lille[point]fr

Partners: 

• 2 research centres (Materia Nova, CRIBC) 

• 5 higher education institutions (Centrale Lille, UMons, ULCO, ULille, UGent)

• 1 SME (Techlink) 

• 2 specialists in networking and in the socio-economic world (Polénergie et Team2). 

There are also 3 associated partners : cluster TWEED, VITO NV and WaterstofNet.

website: https://clued-o.eu/contact/