Wondering how REPOXYBLE solutions work, how can they be applied, and which benefits they will bring? Let’s ask directly to our partners! 

To dive more in the project activities, we are interviewing our experts and presenting the key aspects of our work and results so far, from the depolymerizable composites to their use in automotive and more. 

 

Our sustainable composites 

At the core of REPOXYBLE there are our new bio-based recyclable composites. 

Since current epoxy resin systems or composite systems are not designed for recyclability, their End-of-Life is mostly incineration or landfill; this means that lot of potential secondary raw materials, like high value fibres and other adjuvants, get lost. 

Our novelty is a product that «included the recyclability already in the design phase, and in best case we’ll be able to recover 85% or more of the inherent materials of the composite system, including the epoxy rising matrix in the form of building blocks», as says Christoph Olscher, PhD researcher at BOKU University, the partner responsible for both the recycling process for the newly developed REPOXYBLE Depolymerizable Closed Loop Epoxy (DCLE) resin systems, and contributing to the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approach. 

 

This system is based on our new depolymerizable building blocks, developed by ONYRIQ: «The new resins that we are developing at REPOXYBLE are some thermoset epoxy resins. By the chemical recycling we can recover all the components of this resins: the fibres, the building blocks and the functional additives that we are using», says Ainhoa Tolentino Chivite, Co-founder & CEO, and Daniel Peral Crespo, Scientific Coordinator at ONYRIQ. 

 

Our DCLE system is a chemical recycling based on solvolysis, using water as a solvent, ambient temperatures and low energy costs. It allows not only to reuse every material of the composite, but also keep their quality and properties in the same way that they were designed to be, not downcycling them. Yet, this implies also new sorting systems and collection systems, meaning that some resources are needed to adapt the existing ones to our. 

However, says Christoph, «the future application of recycle composites is almost limitless», including high technical requirements for demanding sectors. In fact, we can «fine tune the properties depending on the specific application that we want to reach, including thermomechanical properties and manufacturing conditions», explain Ainhoa and Daniel. 

And REPOXYBLE case studies are an example of these sectors: automotive and aerospace. 

 

Today’s challenges, tomorrow value 

Industries are under increasing social pressure to reduce emissions and improve sustainability, like what to do at the End of Life with recyclable materials but also how to do that in environmentally beneficial and commercially viable ways. 

REPOXYBLE technology addresses these challenges, since it «allows materials to be recycled to maintain high value through a closed loop recycling scheme and be reintroduced into future composites, whilst maintaining low emissions throughout the whole recycling process; so, that the whole net use of those recyclable composites is inherently sustainable», as points out Paul Spencer, Head of Technology & Innovation at Gurit. 

 

Another key aspect that REPOXYBLE must address regards composites’ lifespan, usually of 20-30 years. Paul identifies three challenges: anticipate the supply chain of recycled composites, allow large structures to be taken to a recycling infrastructure, and the future use of those materials. «Our future use for materials may be quite different in 30 years to what they are today; so, ensuring that we have future value, future application for those materials, and we don’t just delay the recycling challenge for future generations, is really critical and quite different from single use plastics». 

 

A product for demanding applications 

The market is asking for recycling valuable composites at End of Life and allowing those materials to be reused, but also using more lightweight materials, such as REPOXYBLE, that allow a significant reduction in emissions throughout vehicles life cycle. 

Our project is answering with its aerospace and automotive case studies, but our products will be applicable also to other sectors, like wind turbines, shipbuilding, construction, sport… 

 

Hugo Spowers, Founder and Managing Director of Riversimple, explain why REPOXYBLE solutions are instrumental for Riversimple hydrogen fuel cell car and business model: «We designed for long life, we designed for maximum efficiency, maximum recovery of value at End of Life, because all these things reduce the lifetime cost». 

 

To be fully sustainable, in fact, they’re not only going to use recyclable composites, but also implement a rental business model, rather than a traditional selling. After a 3-year rent, the car will come back to Riversimple and be rented to another customer: «So, we design the car to stay on our balance sheet from a clean sheet of paper, when we’re designing it, right through to End of Life. And it means that our interest instead of obsolescence is longevity. The longer the revenue stream, the more money we make». Composites enable this longevity, and REPOXYBLE DCLE system allows to reuse them at End of Life, granting another income after all the years of rent. «Recyclability for us is much more important and much more valuable than it is for a conventional manufacturer, because we know when we design the car at the beginning, that it’s going to be ours at the End of Life: so we design it for maximum recovery of value coming back to us. And that’s not just raw materials, by the way, it’s also components that can be refurbished». 

In fact, composites offer the possibility of designing a much more integrated vehicle, eliminating lot of the components you’d normally have in a car and reducing the overall weight, thus reducing emissions during the lifespan: «Nothing is cheaper or lighter than a component that isn’t there». 

  

These are only some of the advantages that composites, such as REPOXYBLE ones, bring. As Hugo believes, «recyclable composites is one of the most critical elements for us in the future. I don’t believe we can ever have a sustainable industrial system that is dependent on continuous consumption of finite resources. We have to find a way of completely closing the loop: having a steady state economy, ultimately, that relies on material stock that is on our collective balance sheet, rather than continuing to mine or extract non-renewable resources». And closing the loop is what we aim with this project. 

  

 

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