Welcome back to another one of the REDOL newsletters, where we inform you on everything that’s been happening in the project during the last months, including those highlights that keep us energised and ready to tackle any challenge that might come our way! 💌
Our most recent one? The General Assembly meeting in Amsterdam (1-2 April), where we reunited for a third time in-person to update each other on the progress of our tasks and strategise for the future (and share a laugh or two along the way, as one does). 🥰
Without further ado, pick up your favourite warm drink (spring decided to temporarily leave the premises in some parts of Europe) and keep on scrolling… 👀
What happened ✨
See those smiley faces over there? This photo is an accurate representation of how our latest General Assembly meeting went. We had the opportunity to spend 2 (packed!) days in Amsterdam, where we were kindly welcomed by our partners at the AMS Institute. What did we do over there? The list is long, but here’s a recap:
- Each one of our Work Packages (eight in total) presented their colleagues with an update on how their tasks had progressed during the past 6 months, what they achieved and where they encountered difficulties.
- We conducted two hands-on workshops (one focused on risk assessment for our key exploitable results and the other one of the Data Sharing Platform we are developing) and five dedicated workshops for each of the value chains we focus on in REDOL: packaging, plastics, construction and demolition waste, textiles, and waste from electrical and electronic equipment.
- We were offered a guided tour of the Marineterrein Amsterdam Living Lab, an experimental outdoor lab gathering creative, innovative projects designed to make Amsterdam more circular and liveable (this included a charging station for electric bikes, a one-stop drop-off station for all your recyclabes, and a few examples of ideas to transform former parking lots into green oases in the city).
- We welcomed James Hallworth, Commercial Manager at the Port of Amsterdam, for a guest presentation of his company’s initiatives to improve circularity, followed by a study visit at their headquarters to see some of these in action.
We’ve already discussed a bit about our next meeting in November, but we won’t reveal anything yet – you’ll have to keep an eye on us to find out where & what we’ll be doing! 🤭
Events we took part in 🗣️
Would it even be a REDOL project update if we wouldn’t mention the many events our restless partners have joined in the past months? Here’s a rundown of the most important ones:
- Our colleague Jorge Arroyo, Technology Project Manager at CIRCE (our coordinating institution) traveled to Madrid for the S4i | Science for Industry conference, where he demonstrated to participants how the Hyperspectral camera we use in REDOL to sort paper and cardboard works 🔬
- Nothing like teaching young minds about the importance of recycling and the role women (can and should) play in shaping science and carving careers for themselves in STEM – our colleague María Blecua of CIRCE spoke to 5th and 6th graders on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 👩🔬
- We were also present at the European Robotics Forum in Stuttgart (25-27 March), where our colleague Konstantinos Kokkalis presented a paper drawing from REDOL’s findings 📃
- We joined the Plastics & Rubber event in Barcelona (12-13 March) reuniting recycling experts in recycling from all over the Iberian Peninsula ♻️
- The team at CIRCE (when do they find the time?!) conducted a workshop in Madrid within the framework of the National Environmental Congress, connecting students with industry players to propose solutions for sustainability challenges 🌱
- Our colleague Félix González Fernández of ITENE went to Berlin for the 5th Annual Innovative Plastics Processing and Recycling Conference and presented part of our work on the decontamination, delamination and compatibilising of multilayer plastic packaging residues ♻️
- Four of our partners (CIRCE, Casalé, I-SENSEGroup/ICCS, VDZ) were at the 2nd International Congress on Recycling Construction and Demolition Waste and Jorge Arroyo presented our innovative RCD value chain to the guests 🏗️
- Our partner Comune di Prato spoke about REDOL to the guests of the ECOMONDO – Italian Exhibition Group event in Rimini, dedicated to the green transition and new circular economy models 🌍
- We took part in the roundtable discussions and we even conducted a workshop at the WAS-CIRCULAMOS event in Zaragoza, sponsored by us, to discuss circularity, with a focus on real-life examples and success stories 🌟
REDOL Publications ✍️
In the past months, we have enriched our website with two new publications – let’s have a look:
- Applying Circular Thermoeconomics for Sustainable Metal Recovery in PCB Recycling, which analyses the recycling process of waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) and uses the Circular Thermoeconomics methodology to consider the complete life cycles of metals 👉 you can find it here
- A Mapping of Textile Waste Recycling Technologies in Europe and Spain, which provides an overview of the available technologies in textile waste recycling, each with their pros and cons, as well as a techno-economical assessment 👉 you can find it here
Synergies and collaborations 🤝
It would be redundant to mention once again how important joining forces is when it comes to creating a circular economy. We’re thrilled to announce that recently we’ve expanded our network and counted several cooperations with sister project and related initiatives! For example, we…
- Joined the #CircularConstructionCluster at the invitation of our sister project RECONMATIC, alongside CircularB Action, RecycleBIM, Camacol Antioquia, and Alianza Latinoamericana Circular en el Sector de la Construcción 👉 you can read more on our mission and each partner’s focus here
- We were invited to the MOBICCON-PRO final conference in Brussels, where our colleague Paola Mazzucchelli of CIRCE presented our project’s mission and what we achieved in the first 18 months (thank you for joining, Paola!)
- Our colleagues at NTT presented our textile case study in the CORALIS Industrial Symbiosis Business Models workshop
- We took part in the kick-off meeting of the THESEUS Hub4Circularity project in Athens 👉 follow them to learn more about their ethos here
- We were featured in the ProcessIT Innovations newsletter (kudos to Rucha Sawlekar for speaking on our behalf) 👉 check it out here
Upcoming events – where you can find us 📌
Got any plans for June yet? If not, feel free to stop by and say Hello to us at the Textiles Recycling Expo in Brussels (4-5 June), where our partners at NTT will have a stand introducing some of their projects, including REDOL! 💚
Food for thought 💭
What do you do with your old fabrics? We can tell you as much: you’re probably not building bricks with them! That’s right, we’ve recently come across FabBRICK, a Paris-based company that transforms old clothes into construction materials. If that picked your interest, take a look at their website over here.
Thank you for taking the time to go through our project updates! Take care and until the next time! 😉
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