Safe- and sustainable-by-design polymeric materials (RIA) -

Expected Outcome

The way plastics are currently made, used and discarded, fails to capture the economic, environmental and societal benefits of a more sustainable approach. Europe produces 25 million tons of plastic waste annually, less than 30% is recycled. Moreover, plastic production, use and disposal may result in the release of chemicals, which may give rise to health and environmental problems. The development of a common understanding and the transition to safe- and sustainable-by-design materials, including plastics, is a societal urgency.

Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• Recyclable-by-design polymers with inherent recyclability properties for polymers where nowadays recyclability challenge is high;
• Safer (lower toxicity) plastics, with less reliance on potentially harmful additives;
• Reduced environmental footprint associated with the end-of-life phase of the polymers due to increased recyclability and /or reduced reliance on potentially harmful additives, compared with existing products for similar applications;
• Contribute to the development of safe- and sustainable-by-design criteria and guiding principles and apply them to polymers;
• Identification of priorities for substitution of plastic additives;
• New technologies and business opportunities for recycling industry across EU.

Scope

Thanks to their versatility, polymeric materials are used in a wide range of applications from consumer goods and construction to aerospace. The proposals should focus on:

• The design and development of new recyclable polymer systems substituting/improving nowadays difficult to recycle polymers e.g. PVC, thermosets or multicomponent (multilayer or blend) polymers;
• The design and development of safer plastics with less reliance on potentially harmful additives, e.g. plasticizers. The approach should allow to decrease their health and environmental impact and improve the purity of the secondary raw material and thus the quality of recycled plastic without compromising the material optimal properties and functionality;
• Carrying out an inventory of additives detected in plastics and their function and toxicity;
• Integration of safe- and sustainable-by-design aspects, including safety (toxicity), circularity and functionality of advanced polymeric materials, products and processes throughout their lifecycle.

The proposals, activities and approaches should cover both - specific considerations for the plastics under study, as well as developing overarching best practices that spans broader sectors of safe- and sustainable-by-design plastics. Proposals should involve all the actors in the value chain from the chemical and material industry, to formulators, recyclers and regulators. Areas for research include the intersection between chemicals and waste legislation.

Proposals submitted under this topic should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination.

Leveraging the extensive experience from relevant initiatives and aligning with other EU-funded projects targeting safe- and sustainable- by-design materials, in particular under CSA topic HORIZON-CL4-RESILIENCE-2021-01-08, is essential.

This topic is open for international cooperation where the EU has reciprocal benefit, while excluding industrial competitors from countries where the safeguarding of IPRs cannot be guaranteed.

Activities are expected to start at TRL 3 and achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

International Cooperation

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