New Materials for the advanced product design in the industry 4.0

The circular economy is a key driver for effective industrial and social innovation. This project in cooperation between DICAM and Roofy srl works by giving new life to plastic materials resulting from recovery/recycling operations that can be reused several times for the production of plastic building products, replacing traditional virgin material of oil origin. Roofy srl firmly believes in an innovative, highly sustainable and intelligent plastics industry, where design and production fully respect the requirements of reuse, environmental respect and social inclusion. An entrepreneurial activity that generates growth in its industry and important opportunities for new employment as well as reducing environmental impacts and dependence on fossil fuels of oil origin. Roofy srl adopts the most advanced sociological solutions to ensure constant improvement in terms of environmental sustainability and social innovation. The members of the research team (Professors, Researchers, a Sociologist, Schumpeterian entrepreneurs, etc.) for the timely achievement of the project goals, will contribute to correctly set up the production process, carry out in-depth laboratory analyses, draft research reports and validate the final results. The project has a strong social as well as scientific impact, as validation will take place through the scientific publication of two articles in international journals indexed on Scopus/WOS with impact factor. In addition, the material produced will also be of a dissemination nature as it will be presented at international conferences and on social networks (e.g. Linkedin, Twitter, etc.). It has been shown that the problem of environmental impact due to the dispersion of organic materials recalcitrant to biodegradation in the environment (e.g. microplastics dispersed in the marine environment) can only be partially solved by collection and recycling strategies.

This study provides effective solutions, embracing the entire life cycle of the material, starting from its design, which meets the functional requirements of the product, to the “grave”, with the exclusion of the possibility that our product is then dispersed in a particular ecosystem (e.g. sea, rivers, soil, etc.). In fact, our products can be recovered through the controlled transformation of the components by extrusion and milling to be then reused according to the logic of the circular economy. In this respect, we will analyse the possible ecotoxicity effects of the components of these materials (e.g. polymers, microplastics, dyes and additives) and develop non-toxic alternatives. The economic potential of circular economy supply chains is now evident. Innovative business models, such as ours because they are based on social and environmental accounting, are useful for more inclusive, resilient and environmentally friendly societies. Lastly, with this integrated research project we intend to promote a new philosophy for the commercial valorisation of the products of the green supply chain, in fact the innovative business model aims to produce fair rates of corporate profitability and to stimulate private investment in terms of high corporate training and R&D, thus we can finally valorise the formidable technological skills at our disposal, we can thus be forerunners of innovation and sustainable growth in the entire Mediterranean basin. The validation of our correct cradle-to-grave green approach will be confirmed by the prestigious journals selected for publication and dissemination at international conferences on the subject.

UNIBO research team

• Nicholas Fantuzzi
• Anotoine Dib

Project partners

UNIBO