Themes
Circular Vehicle Architectures
- DfC methodology, 9R strategy assessment and LCA at full vehicle system level; OEM circular vehicle strategies, roadmaps and cross-platform standardisation
- Circular vehicle architecture: modular and remanufacturable design, disassembly strategies and hybrid material systems designed for circular end-of-life
- Virtual and physical demonstrators of circular vehicle concepts; brand-independent replicability and validation
Circular Components
- Design for Circularity at component level: lightweight design, material substitution, eco-design and component selection based on LCT assessment
- Joining and interface design for circular end-of-life; component characterisation for mechanical performance and crashworthiness
- Physical and virtual demonstrators of circular components integrated into vehicle architecture across all material groups
Recycled Aluminium & Lightweight Alloys
- 100% secondary aluminium for automotive applications: wrought extrusion, high-pressure die casting and structural foam — including alloy development with extended composition tolerances
- Scrap characterisation, sorting, contamination management and closed-loop process chain design for automotive aluminium
- Process simulation, material modelling and physical demonstrators of circular aluminium components in body-in-white and structural applications
Composites & Polymers
- Recycled and bio-based thermoplastic composites and polymers: material development, formulation and industrial upscaling for automotive structural and interior applications
- Recycling routes for FRP and thermoplastics (mechanical, chemical, thermal) and process simulation for secondary materials (weld lines, crystallinity, warpage)
- Physical demonstrators and life cycle assessment of circular composite and plastic components
Tyres & Rubber
- Tyre circularity: pyrolysis, retreading and reuse of Category 1 and 2 tyres; targets for increased recycled content in new tyre production
- Bio-based and sustainable raw materials in tyre and rubber formulations; material characterisation and safety validation
- End-of-life tyre processing at industrial scale; regulatory frameworks and extended producer responsibility for tyres and rubber
Steel
- Direct repurposing and advanced recycling of automotive steel: 0% virgin material targets, characterisation of used material properties and forming simulation
- Crashworthiness validation of circular steel components: AI-assisted design optimisation, HIC prediction and Euro NCAP compliance
- Physical demonstrators of repurposed and recycled steel components; LCA comparison of repurposing vs. conventional recycling routes
Digital Methods for Circular Economy
- Automated life cycle assessment and R-strategy selection tools: digitisation of LCT assessment and quantification of circularity strategies across the automotive value chain
- Digital Product Passports: architecture, data standards, interoperability and EU regulatory compliance as an enabler of material traceability and circular design
- Traceability platforms, secondary material marketplaces and standardised data infrastructure for transparent and verifiable circular automotive supply chains
Circular Vehicle Ecosystems
- Automotive material recovery systems: ELV dismantling and depollution, advanced sorting technologies and industrial-scale recycling of automotive material streams
- Critical and rare earth material recovery from EV components; quality grading and certification of secondary automotive materials
- Reverse logistics, take-back system design and circular supply chains for automotive materials; policy frameworks enabling closed-loop production (ELV Directive, ESPR, EPR)