Brussels - On 4 July 2024, our final conference was held at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU in Brussels to present the key findings and results of the five-year research initiative. The final conference, entitled “New products from waste PVC flooring and safe end-of-life treatment of plasticizers,” highlighted the project's contribution to the EU's circular economy objectives.
Circular Flooring Final Conference: New products from waste PVC flooring and safe end-of-life treatment of plasticisers
Brussels - On 4 July 2024, the EU project Circular Flooring invites you to find out about the project’s key findings and results at its Final Conference. Over a period of five years, the consortium of the EU project Circular Flooring has researched how to develop a recycling process for end-of-life PVC floor coverings that dissolves and removes undesirable legacy plasticisers (e.g. DEHP) in order to achieve a high-quality virgin-like PVC material for the manufacturing of new PVC floor coverings.
On 19 April the Innovation Forum 4 Plastics took place in Brussles. During the session „Innovative solutions for circular technical/engineering plastics“, project coordinator Dr. Martin Schlummer shared compelling points, shedding light on the importance of increasing the circular use of durable materials like PVC flooring to support sustainability.
Large-scale pilot plant for solvent-based plastics recycling opened
At the end of November 2023, after several years of construction, a large-scale technical centre for the recycling of solvent-based plastics was opened. It is currently being used in the EU Circular Flooring project to recycle soft flooring and produce a plasticiser-free PVC recyclate.
Update of the overview on the market acceptance of flooring including secondary raw materials
The market acceptance analysis has been extensively updated as it is undoubtedly an important factor in the successful implementation of our Circular Flooring project. As Circular Flooring aims to establish a circular recycling process for plasticized PVC from post-consumer flooring waste, issues related to the general attitude towards the recyclability of flooring products and the acceptance of recyclates in these products are of decisive importance.
Validation of the Ru-catalysts for continuous hydrogenation under relevant conditions
Within WP4 the hydrogenation catalyst was evaluated on its stability and recyclability, in order to translate the developed lab-scale revalorisation strategy for phthalate plasticizers to the upscaled and continuous process equivalent.
The second Circular Flooring Days took place on 12-13 October in Freising, Germany. Circular Flooring project partners and industry stakeholders came together to discuss the latest market developments for PVC (recyclate) flooring and its recycling technologies.
BAU, the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Architecture, Materials and Systems, took place from 17-22 April in Munich. The industry's leading manufacturers and innovative newcomers displayed their products and...
COP27 this year has most likely been the largest gathering of climate change actors worldwide, with about 45,000 participants. This Conference of Parties (in short: COP)...
The Circular Materials Conference – the leading Nordic forum for industrial, scientific and commercial progress in the circular use of materials offered a great opportunity to present Circular Flooring.
On the public Bavarian Europe Day on 21 May in Nuremberg (Germany), actors from a wide range of institutions came together in order to inform about diverse matters of EU policy and ambitions. Our project partner BayFOR presented our Circular Flooring project...
Optimizing the interface between CreaSolv® and phthalates hydrogenation
Circular Flooring aims to fully recycle waste PVC flooring by applying the CreaSolv® Process for PVC recovery with simultaneous removal of undesired legacy phthalates which are subjected to hydrogenation, finally yielding revalorised safe plasticisers.
Catalytic upcycling of PVC waste-derived phthalate esters
PVC has been one of the most widely used plastics globally since the middle of the 20th century. Nevertheless, there are hardly any sustainable recycling processes that allow environmentally friendly reuse of PVC.
Circular Flooring participated in one of the virtual booths of the Networking Village at this year's Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference (March 1 & 2) on sustainable products for sustainable consumption.
Circular Flooring joined the Horizon Results Booster
Circular Flooring joined the Horizon Results Booster project group on recycling and eco-innovation to promote their findings to be taken up by policy-makers, researchers and the public for further action...
The first Circular Flooring Expert Days took place from December 6th to 7th 2021 as an online event. Bringing together the project partners and stakeholders from the industry, the event focused on the latest developments of the PVC market and our project's recycling processes.
Update on construction progress of CreaSolv® PVC prototype recycling plant
The external constructions of the CreaSolv® PVC prototype recycling plant building are completed. Finally the facade, doors and gates were finished and the construction scaffolding could be removed...
Webinar 'Recycling of plastics – towards a more sustainable plastic treatment in 2030'
Together with our project group of the H2020 Results Booster (NONTOX, CREAToR, PLAST2bCLEANED and REACT), we co-organized the webinar to discuss innovative methods for plastic treatment.
The PVC 2021 conference is the world’s leading forum on polyvinyl chloride, which took place from the 10th May to the 12th May. Due to the persistent global Covid-19 pandemic, the event was held completely online. As a global forum (over 500 experts...
Obstacles and promoters for the use of secondary materials that have been identified within our project Circular Flooring for PVC flooring waste and its recovery were presented at the fifth Circular Materials Conference (April 21-22, 2021).
To coincide with last month's Global Recycling Day on March 18, 2021, VinylPlus Deutschland e.V. and PlasticsEurope Deutschland e.V. organized an online workshop on "PVC and the Environment - Circular Economy", which brought together many stakeholders from a wide range of scientific fields to discuss current challenges of a global circular economy.
For sustainable development in the construction and real estate industry, the central task is to conserve natural resources and to avoid or reduce negative effects on the global and local environment and the health of processors, users, occupants, residents and visitors.
To kick-start the new year adequately, we participated in the workshop “Innovative methods to remove hazardous substances and contaminants from secondary raw materials for the circular economy” organized by EASME, held online on 29 January 2021.
Within Work Package 2 of Circular Flooring, the CreaSolv® Process for recycling PVC flooring waste is further tailored by Fraunhofer IVV. The recycled PVC is constantly tested and analysed...
Construction of the CreaSolv® PVC prototype recycling plant has started
As part of the Circular Flooring project, a new CreaSolv® PVC prototype recycling plant is being built on the premises of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising, Germany...
Circular Flooring at Plastics Circularity Multipliers Online Conference
The Plastics Circularity Multiplier Initiative (PCMI), of which Circular Flooring is a member, hosted its first conference on October 14-16, 2020 in virtual format...
Originally, it was planned to meet in person for the biannual General Assembly at the premises of our partner Sphera Solutions GmbH in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany. That was before lockdown...