RECYCLING 4.1

The objective is to maintain the quality and performance of these materials over several recycling cycles through advanced additive techniques.

Led by the Institute for Applied Research in Plastics (iRAP) of the HEIA-FR, this project promotes the circular economy by increasing the use of recycled plastics that meet the same quality standards as virgin materials. This will allow them to be reintegrated into demanding applications in key sectors such as medtech, electronics, building systems and the automotive industry.

A key driver of this project is compliance with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, which require companies to manage the entire life cycle of their products. By refining recycling processes, “Recycling 4.1" will minimize the environmental impact of technical and high-performance plastics, reduce dependence on virgin raw materials and reduce the landfilling or incineration of plastic waste.

The innovation of the project is based on several pillars:

• Advanced additivation : Develop specific additive formulations to compensate for polymer degradation due to recycling, thus guaranteeing the stability of mechanical, thermal and aesthetic properties.
• Sorting and characterization technologies : Improve methods for sorting and characterizing post-consumer plastics to obtain purer material flows that are suitable for closed-loop recycling.
• Optimization of recycling processes : Develop and validate recycling processes (mechanical and potentially chemical) to maximize polymer recovery and minimize performance losses.
• Life cycle analysis (LCA) : Integrate a LCA approach to assess the environmental impact of the solutions developed and guarantee real sustainability.

The consortium mobilized for this project combines varied and complementary expertise. Alongside iRAP and HEIA-FR, key industrial partners bring concrete application cases and valuable expertise in the manufacture and use of technical and high-performance plastics. These collaborations are essential for testing, validating and deploying the solutions developed.

By combining fundamental and applied research with industrial needs, “Recycling 4.1" paves the way for a new era in the recycling of technical and high-performance plastics, thus contributing to a more circular and sustainable economy.