Successful international projects and EU  clustering activities

NENU2PHAR. H2020-BBI-JTI-2019: "For a sustainable and european value chain of PHA-based materials for high-volume consumer products". GA 887474.

The NENU2PHAR project gathers 17 partners (5 large industrials, 6 SMEs, 5 RTOs and 1 cluster), leaders in the different fields of research, from biomass development to formulation of biopolymer up to plastic processes. NENU2PHAR project will focus on the development of a PHAs stream to initiate a competitive value chain of bioplastic material for high-volume consumer product.
The goal of NENU2PHAR is to set up a new European value chain of PHA-based bio-plastic products from a sustainable bio-source with an acceptable End of Life. NENU2PHAR will develop a PHAs stream integrated in a circular economy concept, from the production to the biodegradability or recyclability of plastic product to new compounds in order to maximise the valorisation of material and reduce energy consumption.
First, bio-source will be tackled by developing and optimised production of PHA biopolymer thanks to the optimisation of carbon feedstock from micro-algae biomass and selection of bacteria strains. Then, innovative polymer processing options will generate different structures with various bulk-surface properties, and various end of life properties. Market uptake of this new PHA will be supported by a competitive cost (5€/kg for PHA compounds), high purity product and processes optimised for PHA bioplastic to tackle functional properties of high volume consumer product better than fossil-based counterparts. 8 PHA-based products will be developed and benchmarked to their fossil-based counterparts. Full validation of the end of life scenarios and environmental footprint will be studied based on biodegradability, compostability or recyclability of the bioplastics formulated.

ASTRABAT. H2020-LC-BAT-2019: "All Solid-sTate Reliable BATtery for 2025 ". GA 875029

The ASTRABAT project gathers 14 partners, leaders in the different fields of research, development and production, from 8 countries. It aims to find optimal solid-state cell materials, components and architecture that are well suited to the demands of the electric vehicle market and compatible with mass production. The project will comply with improved safety demands and industrial standards. Five ambitious objectives were defined:
1. Development of materials for a solid hybrid electrolyte and electrodes enabling high energy, high voltage and reliable all-solid-state Li-ion cells
2. Gen#2D cell design: processing techniques compatible with existing routes of large scale cell manufacturing (10Ah, Energy type) and validation of a pilot prototype in a relevant industrial environment.
3. Development of a 2030s eco-designed generation for Power-type and Energy type all-solid-state cells in pre-prototype (Gen#3DS and #3DC).
4. Define an efficient cell architecture to comply with improved safety demands.
5. Structuration of the whole value chain of the all-solid-state battery, including eco-design, end of life and recycling.
The project will reinforce the European battery value chain, strengthen collaborations between RTOs, SMEs and Industrial partners from material development to integration in vehicles. The implementation of related work packages, tasks, milestones and risk assessment is considered to achieve these objectives comprehensively.

CROCODILE. EU-H2020-SC5-2017: "first of a kind commercial Compact system for the efficient Recovery Of CObalt Designed with novel Integrated LEading technologies". GA 776473.

The CROCODILE project will showcase innovative metallurgical systems based on advanced pyro-, hydro-, bio-, iono- and electrometallurgy technologies for the recovery of cobalt and the production of cobalt metal and upstream products from a wide variety of secondary and primary European resources. CROCODILE will demonstrate the synergetic approaches and the integration of the innovative metallurgical systems within existing recovery processes of cobalt from primary and secondary sources at different locations in Europe, to enhance their efficiency, improve their economic and environmental values, and will provide a zero-waste strategy for important waste streams rich in cobalt such as batteries.

Additionally, CROCODILE will produce a first of a kind economically and environmentally viable mobile commercial metallurgical system based on advanced hydrometallurgical and electrochemical technologies able to produce cobalt metal from black mass containing cobalt from different sources of waste streams such as spent batteries and catalysts. The new established value chain in this project will bring together for the first time major players who have the potential of supplying 10,000 ton of cobalt annually in the mid-term range from European resources, corresponding to about 65% of the current overall EU industrial demand. Therefore, the project will reduce drastically the very high supply risk of cobalt for Europe, provide SMEs with novel business opportunities, and consolidate the business of large refineries with economically and environmentally friendly technologies and decouple their business from currently unstable supply of feedstocks.

Crocodile, the first of a kind commercial compact system for the efficient recovery of cobalt designed with novel integrated leading technologies.

CAT4HEAVY. EU-LIFE-2017: "Nano-CATalysts for HEAVY Duty Applications ". LIFE17 ENV/GR/000352

LIFE-CAT4HEAVY project is funded by the EU LIFE Programme, the funding instrument of the European Union for the Environment and Climate Change. The project will implement the use of Innovative Catalyst Based Emission Control System on Heavy Vehicles, which will significantly impact the environment, dramatically reducing GHG and air pollutant emissions. This will allow for their adherence to the requirement standards set by the EU for air quality and emissions levels.
The reduction in toxic emissions is achieved by the use of nanotechnology for the production of multi-metallic catalytic substrates. During the project implementation, this innovative catalytic technology will be demonstrated (in real conditions) on 30 vehicles of the Municipality of Galatsi (Greece), the Public Company of Waste Management of the Port of Genova (Italy) and the Public Transport Company of Mantua Region (Italy). These 30 vehicles will be upgraded as per the European emissions measuring system from EURO IV to EURO VI. It is estimated that the specific upgrade of the heavy vehicles will result in 95% reduction of the main toxic emissions, such as micro particles (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
The project aims to demonstrate that the use of this innovative nano-catalytic devices may result to the modernization of Heavy Duty Vehicle fleets of local public or other public authorities, as well as to their adherence to the targets set for the emissions levels. In order to accomplish this aim, a feasibility study will be performed to assess its financial feasibility towards of its upscaling or industrialization.
Finally, the project aims to influence policy decision makers and push forward the EU emission regulation policy and legislation for Heavy Duty Vehicles.

ITHACA: Innovative and sustainable TecHnologies for reducing critical raw mAterials dependence for Cleaner transportation Applications. COST Innovators Grant (CIG)

The aim of ITHACA is to bring together significant research expertise from all over Europe in the area of materials manufacturing and recycling in order to create a new research community able to identify and address the challenges in sustainable processes proving the substitution of CRMs (such as Y, Co and PGMs) in materials for transportation applications (i.e. catalysts and engine components for aerospace and automotive industries). ITHACA will capture and understand the current manufacturing scene and pump-prime activities to move the sector forward. LOMARTOV is taking part in the industrial innovation activities (WG3).

Grant Period: from 1 May 2020 to 30 April 2021.