Lead – Ciaran Lahive (UoM) Co-Lead – Chaoying Wan (UoW)

Engineering plastics are challenging to circularise partly because of their diversity, as sorting, separating, and recycling lose economic value from necessary extra steps or poor quality recyclate. At the same time, new biobased/CO2-derived polymeric molecules and polymers designed to be disassembled into their constituent molecules and then reassembled into new products are touted as panaceas. Through RC1, we will explore the impact of these novel polymers, identify the barriers to and unintended consequences of their implementation at scale and identify applications in target sectors that will add economic and environmental value. Cross-linked polymers utilized in adhesives, rubbers, resins, or foams, represent an important class of engineering plastics that pose significant challenges in recycling, contributing to landfill, CO2 emissions upon incineration and air, water & soil environmental pollution. We will evaluate material chemistries that may undergo reversible bond exchange reactions and how they may unlock value in multi-material systems. Our expertise in reversibly crosslinked structures capable of the same mechanical robustness and chemical stability while being reprocessable, healable & recyclable will be evaluated will also strengthen the role of biobased fillers by tuning the interfaces between biobased fibres, particles and matrix materials and quantifying their potential for carbon-negative designs.

Lead – Kurt Debattista (UoW) Co-Lead – Alvaro Clazadilla (UCL)

As the complexity of recycled products increases, the industry faces growing challenges in ensuring quality and accessing the data needed for proactive decision-making. Enhancing efficiency, quality and productivity requires the integration of AI, sensor networks generating in-situ data and real-time physics-based simulations of materials, products and processes through digital twins. RC2 will focus on developing AI algorithms to improve sorting accuracy for mixed-material waste streams commonly found in the automotive, electronics & construction industries. AI solutions will also facilitate the creation of sustainable plastic products designed for reuse, repair & remanufacturing. Digital twins of supply chains will track the entire lifecycle of plastic products, from production to disposal, enabling better resource monitoring and optimization. Quality control tools will link material composition to plastic performance. These ambitious goals demand a comprehensive, integrated digital strategy. To achieve this, we will establish a digital pipeline that supports circular value chains, including track & trace systems that validate the sustainability credentials of components and prevent fraud. This will involve creating technologies like digital product passports, which offer detailed information on usage, repair history, carbon footprint, global warming potential and circularity, while protecting intellectual property. These digital tools will enable real-time process monitoring and control, providing data on processing history and energy consumption. This will extend our work on quality control to enable adaptive manufacturing of plastics. Combined, these digital solutions will help regulate manufacturing operations and reduce rejection rates when recyclate quality varies.

Lead – Mark Miodownik (UCL) Co-Lead – Mike Shaver (UoM)

To ultimately succeed in driving sustainable practices into the engineering plastics sector, we need to bring end-of-life and next-life considerations to the front of the initial design process. A systems approach to the fate of engineering plastics must, therefore, ensure that reuse, repair & remanufacturing are integrated. While the use of prime material is a standard approach for many products, it will be crucial for closing the material circulation loop from prime material to recycled and by-product streams as feedstock to new product production, thereby addressing circularity in production and moving towards zero-waste production. Modular manufacturing capabilities will enable flexible manufacturing approaches to pivot across different sectors. Modular designs will enable scalability with maintained performance and reduced cost, through-life maintenance and easy disassembly for recycling & repair. The primary objective of RC3 is to develop design frameworks to extend product lifetimes and promote secondary markets for modular components within the industry. These frameworks will align with initiatives such as Right to Repair legislation and the implementation of digital passports, derisking reuse & remanufacturing practices. By evaluating factors such as component history, composition, usage, degradation, contamination and potential for physical & chemical reconditioning, we will develop quality control tools to identify reusable components and quantify their value. We will also address barriers to reuse, such as product aesthetics, loss of transparency, colour and contamination. A key part of the work is using digital passports for components that hold information about the product’s history (RC2). We will also investigate design for repair strategies (modularity, mono-materials, digital twins & autodisassembly). Using LCA, TEA & SIA (RC5) the work will define potential business models to support reuse & repair systems while meeting concerns about safety, quality control and reputational risk.

Lead – Mike Shaver (UoM) Co-Lead – Ton Peijs (UoW)

A key requirement for sustainable engineering plastic solutions is to optimize raw material usage and reduce energy demands in material processing. Recycling and repurposing, particularly for highvalue engineering plastics, can offer significant sustainability benefits. This RC addresses the challenges and opportunities of recycling, focusing on design requirements, business models, standards and regulations to drive these efforts. Extensive investment in mechanical, chemical and enzymatic approaches to create value out of single-use plastic packaging at end of life has masked the complexity of the research challenges for engineering plastics. Within RC4, we will develop improved sorting technologies and explore the effects of repeated mechanical recycling on plastics’ physical and mechanical properties. We will assess the impact of additives (incl. colorants) and contaminants on the value of recycled plastics. For cases where mechanical recycling fails, we will explore chemical and mechanical solutions such as depolymerization and compatibilizers to transform plastics into high-value materials or monomers, unlocking solutions for the recycling of multi-materials, blends and composites, including the recovery & reuse of high-value fillers like carbon nanomaterials or fibres. Research will focus on optimizing catalysts and conditions for chemical recycling processes (e.g., pyrolysis, solvolysis & dissolution recycling), with attention to scale and reaction rates. Both chemical and enzyme-based systems will be investigated. Additionally, RC4 will map multi-tier supply chains to understand the interdependencies of recycled materials, identify supply sources and address risks from lower-tier suppliers. This work will enhance supply chain visibility, market acceptance, quality control & standardization.

Lead – Stuart Coles (UoW) Co-Lead – Rosa Cuellar-Franca (UoM)

Sustainability assessments of products & processes are increasingly vital as decision-makers aim to minimize economic, environmental & social impacts. To evaluate our research, we will develop models for life cycle assessment (LCA), social impact assessment (SIA) & techno-economic assessment (TEA). Each area follows specific guidelines and integrating them into a cohesive framework is challenging. This can be addressed using multi-criteria decision aiding (MCDA), with a sustainability framework already developed at UoW. However, case-specific analyses, particularly in engineering plastics, will be essential to understand the trade-offs and priorities across different assessments. New system-wide approaches are required to conduct these assessments. In LCA, for instance, standardized functional units are crucial for valid comparisons. However, comparing processes like chemical versus mechanical recycling of plastics can be problematic due to differences in outputs—pellets versus liquids. System-wide analysis is critical to evaluate broader impacts and strategies like reuse, repair & remanufacturing while avoiding unintended consequences. Data collection is another key challenge, requiring collaboration across RCs. RC1 will provide material development data, RC2 real-time information for dynamic assessments, RC3 detailed analyses of reuse, repair & remanufacturing and RC4 data on collection and reprocessing. This collaborative effort will contribute to broader sustainability evaluations and support the establishment of international standards & regulations for recycled content and recycling processes.