News

The second Circular Flooring Expert 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. The event focused on providing information on the project scope, technologies and approaches, while discussing with invited experts project results achieved so far, as well as the feasibility and market opportunities of the circular PVC flooring industry.

Fraunhofer IVV presented the project, its achievements, the dissolution process approach and the realisation of solvent based recycling. Akdeniz Chemson and Vinnolit spoke about quality assessment of recycled PVC. KU Leuven provided information on the laboratory scale upcycling strategy for real PVC waste – phthalates extracted into safe, hydrogenated plasticisers – as well as an outlook for plasticisers in Europe. Finally, ERFMI gave an overview of PVC waste generation, while VinylPlus Germany explained recycling options in the PVC industry. After these enlightening presentations, the future impact of the project on the flooring industry as well as next steps after the project end were discussed.

Highlights of the event were a guided tour through the Fraunhofer IVV laboratories and the CreaSolv® recycling pilot plant. The project coordinator Dr. Martin Schlummer of Fraunhofer IVV explained the different unit operations of the dissolution process to the project partners and stakeholders, who were very impressed.

The second Circular Flooring Days were characterised by interesting and informative presentations and fruitful discussions and engagements. Many thanks to all speakers and participants!

Circular Flooring Expert Days 2023 in Freising (Germany). Copyright: BayFOR