Global approach for the short circuit recycling of used plastics by additive manufacturing – GREENLOCAL3D
Global approach for the short circuit recycling of used plastics by additive manufacturing
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Challenges and objectives
Although the “Factory of the Future” concept has been around for over ten years, changes in production processes have had little impact on environmental issues. At the same time, we are witnessing an upheaval in the means of production. One of the key factors in these transformations is the emergence of Additive Manufacturing (AM), which enables small production runs to be produced economically, quickly and on a local scale. Given the different specificities of AF processes, a wide range of opportunities is emerging for developing more sustainable means of production at different levels of the value chain. As part of the GREENLOCAL3D project, the project team is developing models and experiments to facilitate the short-circuit recycling of post-consumer plastic waste to be recovered and improved by AF processes, and to study the possibility of using AF to revalue plastics known as “sorting rejects” that have hitherto remained unsorted and/or unrecycled. In order to generate a circular economy around these plastics, GREENLOCAL3D wishes to qualify the plastic waste deposits available in sorting centers and on a territorial scale, to analyze their composition, and to dimension the volumes available and usable in AF. Finally, the members of the project wish to carry out an analysis of material flows, as well as an overall diagnosis to map and characterize the industry in the making.
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GREENLOCAL3D aims to produce scientific and technical results that will enable the development of a short-circuit recycling loop and better recovery of plastics from sorting centers that have not been recycled to date. As a scientific contribution, the project will enable progress to be made in the various stages of the recycling process for sorting rejects: 1) For the flow management part, GREENLOCAL3D will initially qualify all unsorted plastics, and more precisely assess the available quantities of plastics commonly used in 3D printing (PLA, PHA, etc.). The project will propose a technico-economic analysis of their recovery, as well as a study of the impact on the value chain (collection circuit, sorting center, etc.). GREENLOCAL3D will identify potential sourcing and recovery sites on the basis of one or more case studies (plastic/territory coupling), in order to model the sector and study the conditions for its sustainability. 2) For the material processing part, a better understanding of the steps and conditions required for the pre-treatment of plastics that will be used as raw materials for 3D printers will be proposed. In addition, the evaluation of the properties of the various plastics and their complete degradation in the extrusion and printing processes will be given. Finally, different methodologies for assessing 3D printing quality will be proposed.
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Suescun C .; et al. Distributed recycling of multi-material plastic for additive manufacturing. Conference Academia Stands for Green Deal. Mai 2023, Nancy France.
Chapitre d’ouvrage. Boudaoud H. et al. “Polymer and plastic recycling” in “Sustainable processes in the Circular Economy.” Edited by A. Chagnes, Elsevier. 2024.
Suescun C.; et al. Multi-Material Post-Consumer Plastic Waste Revalorization Via Fused Granular Fabrication. Conférence 2024 Process Development Symposium Europe. 2024.
The GreeenLocal3D project focuses on models and experiments to facilitate the short circuit recycling of post-consumer plastic waste to be recovered and enhanced by additive manufacturing (AM) processes. In a new "distributed recycling" paradigm, this process must be accomplished by affordable and flexible technologies that cover a limited geographical area to form the basic unit of a "smart recycling network". More specifically, the objective is to study the possibility through AM to revalorize previously unsorted and/or unrecycled types of plastics. In order to generate a circular economy around these plastics, we will analyze the whole value loop from the collection and distribution circuit to their valorization as printable materials by additive manufacturing via the combined mastery of their transformation processes and their formulation. To illustrate the potential of the implemented methodology, we will evaluate the feasibility of the proposed approach for different product/material pairs and at different positions of the value loop. On a macro scale, we will qualify the available plastic waste deposits at the level of sorting centers and on a territorial scale. We will analyze the composition of unsorted plastics and size the volumes of thermoplastics available and usable in 3D printing (especially for PLA). We will then propose, in a multi-tool approach, an analysis of material flows as well as a global diagnosis allowing us to map and characterize the industry in the making. At the micro level, we will study the potential use of raw materials in AM processes. Scientific studies will be carried out on model polymer blends with the objective of transferring the results to plastics to be recycled.
Project coordination
Hakim Boudaoud (Equipe de Recherche sur les Processus Innovatifs)
The author of this summary is the project coordinator, who is responsible for the content of this summary. The ANR declines any responsibility as for its contents.
Partnership
ERPI Equipe de Recherche sur les Processus Innovatifs
LRGP Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés - CNRS
IMP Institut National des Sciences Appliquées Lyon
LGI CentraleSupélec
Help of the ANR 476,000 euros
Beginning and duration of the scientific project:
September 2022
- 48 Months
