ECOBULK Project

The ECOBULK international project aims to promote innovation, reuse, recovery and recycling of products, parts and materials in the automotive, furniture and construction sectors, proposing a new economic model that is efficient in terms of resources: the circular economy model, in which products, materials and resources maintain their value over time, minimizing the production of waste. The choice of these sectors is motivated by the high possibility of application of this new model, thanks to the product typologies characterized by medium complexity and a life cycle of about 15 years.

The ECOBULK approach is based on the identification and promotion of processes, technologies, products and services that can be transferred to other industrial sectors, in order to benefit the environment and the economy along the supply chains.

ECOBULK circular economy model

The research focuses on all the key production phases, from design to waste streams management.

Design: design of modular and circular composite products for the three reference sectors.

Manufacturing: increase in the percentage of recycled materials (up to 60% for plastic materials and 70% for wooden products), and implementation of a decision support system (DSS) and a quality system along the product life cycle phases in order to optimize the selection of material and production processes, helping to redesign the value chain.

Distribution/data collection: in order to improve the logistics and facilitate the recovery of products and reinsert them in the supply chain.

Waste flow management: new and more homogeneous waste streams will allow more uniform materials to be recovered in the production line.

Some of the main partners involved: