Sustainable manufacturing of circular economy elastomer products

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Title
Sustainable manufacturing of circular economy elastomer products

CoPED ID
4696ed14-1fd4-4ccd-a67b-f8a59ecf1eca

Status
Active

Funders

Value
£2,494,810

Start Date
Feb. 1, 2022

End Date
July 16, 2025

Description

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The sustainability of rubber products is a major global challenge mainly due to the huge amount of rubber waste generated each year. Furthermore, many elastomer products including most car tyres are manufactured from fossil fuel-based materials, which are not renewable. This proposed research programme aims to tackle these challenges by manufacturing novel circular economy elastomer products from renewable biobased feedstocks, with zero waste, high resource efficiency and no reliance on fossil fuels, thus transforming the elastomer field. Two types of elastomer products will be manufactured for various applications, namely self-healing natural rubber products which can self-repair repeatedly after damage, and be reused, reprocessed and recycled after their end of life; and biobased thermoplastic elastomer products which can be reprocessed and recycled due to their thermoplastic nature. The new elastomers will be prepared and characterised, followed by the process optimisation, manufacture and evaluation of representative elastomer products using the optimal elastomers and elastomer composites as well as manufacturing processes. Subsequently, the self-repair, reuse, reprocessing and recycling behaviour of the new elastomer products will be assessed. Finally, the energy consumption and carbon emissions of the product lifecycle, product costs and the impact of the new products on the whole supply chain will be assessed. An interdisciplinary team of rubber and polymer scientists and manufacturing engineers, as well as a management scientist, will work on the programme together employing a holistic approach ranging from material design and synthesis, through to product manufacturing and finally self-repair, reuse and recycling. At the end of the programme, innovative biobased circular economy elastomer products will have been sustainably manufactured with their fundamental science and broader impact understood. The sustainable materials, manufacturing technologies, and the scientific understanding obtained from this research can be extended to other elastomer products in the future, ensuring the long-lasting sustainability of elastomer products and industry.

Biqiong Chen PI_PER
Peter Martin COI_PER
Ton Peijs COI_PER
Min Zhang COI_PER
James Busfield COI_PER
Eoin Cunningham COI_PER

Subjects by relevance
  1. Recycling
  2. Product development
  3. Products
  4. Production
  5. Sustainable development
  6. Green products
  7. Reuse
  8. Circular economy
  9. Rubber
  10. Wastes
  11. Environmental effects
  12. Life cycle analysis
  13. Innovations
  14. Rubber products
  15. Industrial design
  16. Design (artistic creation)
  17. Manufacturing
  18. Productivity

Extracted key phrases
  1. Novel circular economy elastomer product
  2. New elastomer product
  3. Thermoplastic elastomer product
  4. Representative elastomer product
  5. Product manufacturing
  6. Natural rubber product
  7. New product
  8. Sustainable manufacturing
  9. Product cost
  10. Product lifecycle
  11. Elastomer field
  12. Elastomer composite
  13. Optimal elastomer
  14. Sustainable material
  15. Manufacturing technology

Related Pages

UKRI project entry

UK Project Locations