News

The LIFE PlasPLUS project held its third annual consortium meeting in Turin, Italy from June 13 to June 14, 2022. It was the first time since the 2020 kick-of meeting that all partners could meet in person within the context of a live meeting.

During the first day of the meeting, Hervé Demoulin, the project leader for Comet Traitements (Comet) and Pierre Fiasse, the recently appointed European Funding Coordinator for Comet, led an agenda covering all activities of the LIFE PlasPLUS project. All three key steps of the projects were covered:

Step # 1 – High purity thermoplastics value chain

Step # 2 – Extraction of Flame Retardant Plastics

Step # 3 – Recycling of by-product Sb through catalytic conversion and hydrometallurgy

Progress of life cycle and socio-economic impact assessment activities were presented and remain on track. Communication and dissemination have intensified with the organization on the first dedicated dissemination event in February 2022 and the finalization of the shooting for a brand-new video covering the full value chain of the project.

The first day was highlighted by a visit of the Centro Ricerche Fiat (Stellantis Group) research laboratory and upscaling installations. On this occasion the consortium attended the extruding of a FIAT 500 glove box with recycled plastic generated by Comet within the scope of the LIFE PlasPLUS project thereby highlighting success for activity 5.1 “Validation I : use of recycled ABS and PP in automotive components”. Several interviews with partners were also executed by the filming crew who flew from Belgium for the occasion.

On the second day, the partners held two workshops, the first one on IPR and the second one targeting a review of market analysis in view of LIFE PLasPLUS replication and transfer.

Great achievements have been made possible thanks to remarkably flexible and strong teamwork with close collaboration between the partners of the LIFE PLasPLUS consortium.

The increasing importance of electric mobility in the energy transition and associated use of electric vehicles reinforces the strategic role of the project. LIFE PlasPLUS implements a holistic approach to simultaneously close the loop for two traditionally siloed material value chains, plastics and minerals. The project aims at producing high purity recycled thermoplastics and antimony, two materials in high demand, notably for the emerging electric mobility sector requiring the increased use of lightweight materials and flame retardants to, respectively, lower energy consumption and increase fire safety.

We are looking forward to delivering successful and meaningful results during this last year of the project. Don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter and stay up-to-date with the progress achieved by the LIFE PLasPlus project.