Extrusion International USA 4-2022

59 Extrusion International 4/2022 IKV is pursuing a holistic approach to identify digital solu- tions for the improved use of recyclate. In the PlasticBOND research project, together with a broadly based industry consortium, prototype concepts are being developed that consider the product and process properties at every stage of the life cycle, and make the information available as a set of data in line with the material passport introduced by the Industry 4.0 platform. Applications in which the digital pass- port can provide a benefit are, in addition to more efficient processing, also the holistic optimisation of the ecological sustainability (e.g. the CO 2 footprint of packaging) or the compliancewith the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Here, IKVmakes use in particular of the experience acquired in the R-Cycle project with traceable plastic products. Alongside this, a study is also being carried out of the ef- fects on processing of using varying recyclate qualities and varying recyclate contents, as well as their influence on the respective process control. The focus of the project is less on raising the individual recyclate quality or optimising the actual processing, but more on improving the standards for recyclate. This should then make it possible, taking into account the complexity of the reprocessing, to make spe- cific use of recyclate according to the classification, and thus turn the "circular economy" from a political goal to a practicable, everyday technology. Institute of Plastics Processing in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University (IKV) Seffenter Weg 201, 52074 Aachen, Germany Malte Schön, M.Sc. Head of department Extrusion and Rubber Technology +49 241 80-28372 , malte.schoen@ikv.rwth-aachen.de PlasticBOND - Schematic illustration of the platform design to be developed