Context
The evolution towards a more sustainable, environmentally friendly future is materials driven, as new lightweight materials and sustainable processing technologies will have an enormous environmental and performance benefit in all sectors of application. For instance, a reduction of 27.5% on average fleet weight could translate to a reduction of 40% in CO2 emissions only in the transport sector (equivalent to 27% EU GHGs).
From the different lightweighting technologies, composites provide the highest potential for reducing weight by metal replacement. The use of composites (mostly thermosets) is limited to large sectors due to their limitations in terms of long processing times, high prices and low recyclability.
Also, the EU is highly dependent on fossil raw materials for strategic value chains (as road transport and aerospace for composite materials). Recyclability and sustainability (introducing materials from biomass) are the main driving factors to reach market uptake of High-Performance Composites (HPC) in increasingly demanding applications to substitute fossil raw materials.
On the one hand, most HPC materials are still landfilled or incinerated, and downcycled to fillers. Developing lightweight HPC based on sustainable bio-based raw materials (fibres and resins) and designed to improve its recyclability would enable recovering and reuse of this material waste.
Finally, Composite manufacturing is an energy-intensive process where improved HPC production processes could lower the cost and production energy requirements, potentially opening a wide range of applications that promote clean energy and energy efficiency.
Thus, r-LightBioCom detected the opportunity to develop new advanced bio-based composite materials with inherent recyclability properties together with technologies and tools for sustainable composite design, modelling, and processing, leading to new families of bio-based, recyclable lightweight HPC at competitive cost.
Objectives
r-LightBioCom’s main objective is to reduce environmental impact of the new lightweight HPC, not only during their production but also during their operational life and after achieving their final lifetime (inherent recyclability properties), while providing improved mechanical properties, weight reduction and new functionalities.
To achieve the main objective, 7 Specific Objectives (O#) have been defined:
[O1] To develop new bio-based resins with improved recyclability and tailored to the HPC needs in terms of performance and processing technologies.
[O2] To enhance the properties of lightweight composites for applications in various sectors of different requirement demands as road transport, infrastructures, and aeronautics.
[O3] To unveil and re-design processing technologies to manufacture new lightweight HPC components and structures based on sustainable fibres and bio-resins (+50% of bio-based & sustainable material).
[O5] To validate new r-LightBioCom raw materials and processes in targeted sectors, considering industry requirements and acceptance and r-LightBioCom sustainable by-design framework.
[O6] To develop a sustainable-by-design framework with a focus on enhancing recycling and modelling to generate and enable a change of paradigm towards circular value chains.
[O7] To standardise r-LightBioCom HPC manufacturing processes to facilitate replicability, reducing time to market.
