Projects

The European Plastics Strategy, by means of the Green Deal & Circular Economy Action Plan 2.0, addresses the need for new methods to reliably calculate, verify and report the recycled content in products, thus boosting the increase of recycled content in everyday products against the use of virgin materials.

Plastic economy has been based from its start in linear managing producing overwhelming amounts of waste. This compromises the sustainability of human activities and, therefore, threatens our wellbeing degrading our ecosystems.
Setting circular business models requires increasing and adapting the Knowledge and awareness of the companies, as well as skills boosting of both, former and new entrants to the economic system.

The implementation of more sustainable feedstock in plastic products manufacturing companies is a current requirement in the European Union (EU) scope.
The manufacturing enterprises, thus, face themselves into a significant challenge, given that the search for more sustainable and functional plastic materials that meet the physical-chemical properties required by the product means to invest a substantial time in non-productive tasks.

The objective of this research line is to be able to offer companies new opportunities for the use of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, through the development and application of new materials for AM.

Beer brewing within the EU generates over 6 million tonnes of bagasse and a million tonnes of yeast. Bagasse is rich in protein and dietary fibre. However, 20% of bagasse waste gets disposed of in landfill sites, thus leading to a loss of a high value-added product.

The SAFEorFAKE? Toolkit is a project led by AIJU with the support of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

29.1 million tonnes of plastic waste is being generated within Europe on an annual basis, 17.8 million tonnes of which pertain to packaging. Within the latter, still over 7 million tonnes are incinerated while 3.3 million tonnes are disposed of in landfill sites, thus having an impact on the environment and the sustainability of the planet.

The main objective is to determine and evaluate the presence of toxic substances in the materials coming from recycled tyres and that are used as raw materials in play areas and/or sports fields, and how it is modified during the manufacturing and ageing process due to use and weather conditions, both controlled (indoor use) and not (outdoor use).

The statistics colleted by the OECD and other studies on the safety of children's products sold online demonstrate that nowadays the safety level of products in the e-commerce is below the products sold by traditional stores. In the case of products aimed at children, safety is a critical aspect, as the users are particularly vulnerable and an injury may have fatal consequences.

Safety is a key factor for children's products and decisive in the consumers' purchase decision, especially in the case of products for babies and young children, like toys or childcare articles.