By Plasteurope.com staff

Research institute Fraunhofer Austria (Vienna; www.fraunhofer.at) said it is testing a collection system for EPS insulation board trimmings together with partners in the industry. The aim of the EPSolutely pilot project is to prepare the collected material for closed loop recycling and process it into new board again. Tests have shown that this is also possible for soiled boards, Fraunhofer Austria reports.

The consortium of 13 partners applied QR codes to a total of 5,000 collection bags for the research project. They then distributed these to building sites where insulation panels for housing construction are cut to size. An online app is used to send a notification once the trimmings are ready to be picked up, and the postcode of the building site determines which project partner is responsible for transporting the bags and for what happens next.

Data security was a crucial aspect when the app was being developed, since, for anti-trust reasons, it was necessary to make sure that no data could be exchanged between the project partners. The barcode on the collection bag allows the material to be identified and tracked.

The project is set to run until the end of December 2024. “We then plan to analyse the results of the collection tests and identify potential for improvement before the concept can be rolled out on an industrial scale,” says project manager Stephan Keckeis of Fraunhofer Austria. 

The other project partners, all based in Austria, are EPS manufacturer Sunpor, converters Austrotherm, Flatz, Hirsch Porozell, and Steinbacher, together with companies Liebherr-Hausgeräte Lienz, Lindner-Recyclingtech, LuSt Malereibetrieb & Vollwärmeschutz, O.Ö. Landes-Abfallverwertungsunternehmen, Porr Umwelttechnik, Saubermacher Dienstleistungen, and XXXLutz. Also involved in processing the EPS are compatriot firms Austyrol and swisspor Österreich.

— Translated by Plasteurope.com correspondent