CUBIC project to develop 100% recyclable composite hydrogen container, car seat

The Aitiip Technology Center (Zaragoza, Spain) is leading CUBIC, a new European project that seeks to improve the sustainability and circularity of complex products that are made from composite structures. To this end, CUBIC will research the development of new bio-based materials, mainly from lignin and vegetable oils, to design new intermediate products that will be 100% recyclable. These materials will compose the structures of two sustainable prototypes: a hydrogen container and a car seat.

According to Aitiip, the novel materials can be used individually or in combination with others to manufacture final products. Among the new range of materials, sheets, pellets, powders and yarns reinforced with polyamide or resin-impregnated carbon fiber will be developed. CUBIC will also explore new technologies and dynamic chemistry processes to enable the combination of different intermediates in the same manufacturing process.

Moreover, the project will demonstrate the feasibility of disassembling the product components, thus favoring their recycling and subsequent revalorization, or transformation into new byproducts). Within CUBIC, assessments will be carried out regarding lifecycle, cost and social methodologies, as well as digital tools to improve bio-based materials and their manufacturing processes. The ultimate goal is to improve the circularity of products, as well as predictive methods to make their end-of-life more sustainable. In this way, CUBIC will optimize market innovation, so that the market easily adopts the new materials developed, enabling new and more flexible manufacturing methods, while driving a dual green and digital transformation of the European manufacturing industry.

CUBIC is a research and innovation project funded by Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE - JU) within Horizon Europe, the European Union's Framework Program for Research and Innovation, through Grant Agreement No. 101111996. With a duration of 42 months and a budget of almost €4.7 million, the project involves a total of 13 European partners, with complementary competences, including six industrial partners — Specific Polymers, Comfil, Carbotainer Proyectos, Moses Productos and QPlan as small- and medium-sized companies and Novamont as a large company, — six research and technology organizations — Aitiip, Centexbel, Cidetec, Idener, DITF, Circe — and one academic organization, the University of Limerick.

For related content, read “Aitiip Technology Center reports dismantling of thermoplastic parts using resistance welding.”