More environmentally friendly polymers by design

The SURPASS project will establish the transition to safer, more sustainable, and recyclable polymeric materials for the construction, transport, and packaging sectors.

Plastic waste is accumulating on the planet at an alarming rate, causing air, soil, and water pollution due to toxic substances and greenhouse gas emissions. The SURPASS project aims to lead the transition to safer, sustainable, and recyclable by design (SSRbD) of polymeric materials and targets three specific sectors that account for 70% of European plastic demand: packaging, construction, and transport.

SURPASS, an EU-funded project with a total budget of 4.98 million euros, will develop SSRbD alternatives without potentially hazardous additives through industrially relevant case studies. CIDETEC Surface Engineering, through 3R technology (repairable, recyclable and reprocess able), will formulate and create recyclable and sustainable epoxy composites that, above all, will show improved fire resistance and can be used in highly demanding sectors such as railways.

In addition, an assessment system will be designed, based on a set of specific parameters, a risk assessment and a health, environmental and economic evaluation, which will serve as a guide for formulators and manufacturers of materials and recyclers to develop SSRbD polymeric materials from the outset.

In this way, it is expected to respond to a structural problem by changing the current trend from the design stage and avoid that, as is currently the case, 70% of the plastic waste collected in Europe continues to be disposed of in landfills or incinerators, with the adverse consequences that this generates for public health and the environment.

SURPASS, framed within the Horizon Europe 2021 Research and Innovation Program, began last June and will last 42 months, involving a total of 13 partners under the coordination of the French CEA.