Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SUSTONABLE (From bottle to stone. Recyclable engineered stone for countertops.)
Reporting period: 2019-02-01 to 2019-05-31
Despite the increasing acceptance of artificial stone materials, the main drawback is the standard production itself, which is very wasteful (50% waste material), uses a lot of polluting chemicals and results in expensive selling prices (50-100€/m2). Additionally, high installation cost results from the specialists required to cut and install the product on-site. The low-cost/low-quality alternative is the High-Pressure Laminate (HPL) material (15-20€/m2) which dominates the €20 billion global B2B countertop industry (400 million m2 countertops sold). With physical look and feel of natural stone, SUSTONABLE is the best-in-class countertop material providing the most balanced economical/functional properties for the optimal market positioning at 30 to 40€/m2.
Having our process successfully run at a pilot plant to prove the concept, SUSTONABLE has produced approx. 450 slabs of 250x80cm. SUSTONABLE is at TRL7, the product has been tested by major players such as IKEA and Nobilia and qualified for table tops and vertical applications like kitchen backsplash and shower wall panels. However, it is not 100% qualified for kitchen countertops yet. Therefore, for the production line upgrade proposed for this H2020 project we will implement our proprietary SAL (Sacrificial Absorption Layer) with improved rPET drying for the surface hardening goal. This product will qualify on all criteria for kitchen countertops. Furthermore, we will scale the production capacity from from a 1 shift continuous process at 7,000 m2/month to a 3 shift continuous non-stop process at 23.000m2/month (250.000m2/yr) at max width of 90cm. In addition, we will demonstrate the recycling and set-up a takeback system & logistics. The Feasibility Study has been used to define the main technical/financial requirements to build up the production line to the next level. Further commercial definition and market analysis have been also conducted.
SUSTONABLE is a game-changer for the countertop industry due to its combination of low weight, small thickness, high-performance functional properties and efficient manufacturing process, enabling much lower costs of raw materials and distribution as well as less capital investment for plant machinery, all compared to existing products and processes in the engineered stone industry. SUSTONABLE is produced using recycled PET as the only binder material, without any volatile chemical solvents. No waste: it re-uses the losses that occur during production.