FlexCyle project targets TPC waste recovery, repurposing at same site
Led by the Brightland Materials Center, consortium members are developing a flexible process chain, demonstrated via battery casings and wind blades, to repurpose waste directly where it is generated.
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What if industry could turn fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites waste directly into functional products, right where the waste is generated? That is the driving question behind FlexCyle, a project led by the Brightlands Materials Center (Geleen, Netherlands) developing flexible and compact recycling solutions for thermoplastic composites (TPC).
FlexCyle’s consortium — TNO, CHILL, eModum, Novocycle and Poly Products — aims to solve this by combining shredding, compounding and extrusion-based 3D printing into one process chain. The result will be a flexible production line that can process TPC waste into functional products, right on-site.
The project is based at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in South Limburg and is co-funded by the European Union through the Just Transition Fund (JTF). Partners CHILL and eModum B.V. will develop an integrated recycling line that combines shredding, compounding and fused granulate fabrication 3D printing (FGF 3D printing) to locally turn TPC waste into new, functional products.
The technology will also be demonstrated by two partners via two practical applications: Novocycle Technologies B.V. will recycle battery casings and Poly Products B.V. will develop structural parts for a wind turbine blade bridge.
In FlexCyle, recovered plastics from dismantled battery packs used in mobility applications are granulated and compounded, sometimes with additional fillers like glass fibers, to retain or enhance performance. The material is then used in direct granulate 3D printing to create custom-fit casings for second-life batteries.
In the decommissioned wind turbine blades use case, the blades are repurposed as structural elements in bridges. FlexCycle technology is to be used to 3D print custom components that link the curved blade shapes, enabling a robust, future-proof bridge structure from upcycled materials.
In addition to its technical goals, the project involves at least 12 students and creates eight new jobs at CHILL and eModum.
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