Press release -
Circular economy: the European CIRC-UITS project on the end-of-life reuse of electrical components in the automotive and domestic appliances sector is underway
Milan, 16 February 2023 – The European CIRC-UITS project (Circular Integration of independent Reverse supply Chains for the smart reUse of IndusTrially relevant Semiconductors), which develops digital solutions for the design, production and end-of-life management of electronic components.
In fact, CIRC-UITS intends to develop new technologies for designing, disassembling and efficiently and sustainably reusing disused electronic components inside new products, but it also intends to define new business models to improve data sharing and standardisation among the industrial leaders involved in the supply chains.
In particular, the advantages of the digital circular economy will be demonstrated through 4 pilot projects:
• Development of environmentally friendly electronic panels to be incorporated into inverters and battery management systems in electric cars
• Development of new-generation tyre sensors
• Development of environmentally friendly flexible processing boards
• Classification and storage of obsolete printed circuits of various pieces of electrical and electronic equipment
In this way, CIRC-UITS will provide material support to businesses in the automotive and mass-produced electronics sector, demonstrating the benefits that can be obtained from the application of the circular economy paradigm both from the perspective of both the business and supply chain and from the technological and sustainability perspective, through the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in the processes through which disused electronic components are managed and in the design of new products.
The three-year CIRC-UITS project is a Research and Innovation action co-financed by the European Commission under its Horizon Europe programme, and is coordinated by professors Paolo Rosa and Sergio Terzi from the Politecnico di Milano’s Department of Management Engineering and has a total budget of around € 6 million.
The project, coordinated by the Politecnico di Milano, has support from the following partners:
the OFFIS German research centre,
the Austrian systems and automation engineering society SAT,
the Swiss-Italian professional university SUPSI,
the Spanish tech business association INNOVALIA,
the Dutch research centre TNO,
the software development company TXT E-Tech Srl,
il research centre Fiat CRF,
the German mechatronic component manufacturer Robert BOSCH GmbH,
the German electronics materials producer ALPHA assembly solutions Germany GmbH,
the French mechatronics component producer CONTINENTAL automotive France SAS,
the Italian domestic appliance producer WHIRLPOOL corporation,
the Dutch consultancy firm Material Recycling and Sustainability B.V,
the German consultancy firm BESU solutions GmbH,
the vehicle demolition company Pollini Lorenzo e Figli Srl,
the Dutch flexible electronics producer start-up TRACXON BV,
the Italian waste collection consortium RAEE ERION,
the German standardisation institution DIN EV,
the Politecnico di Milano’s competence centre MADE,
and the Hungarian chamber of commerce PBKIK.
To find out more, visit www.circuitsproject.eu
The CIRC-UITS project has received funding from the European Union Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101091490
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
