Organizing the Circular Economy Through A Network of LSAM Microfactories Recycling Ocean Plastics - OCEAN-LSAM

Purpose and goal:

OCEAN-LSAM was a Step 1 feasibility study under the Circularity in Industrial Production call. The project contributed to Produktion2030 call 16 impact goal: Reduced resource waste along entire product life cycles and value chains, by laying the foundation for tomorrow’s global network of circular economy microfactories producing large products designed by Swedish industry and produced from local recycled polymer waste streams through large-scale additive manufacturing (LSAM) equipment supplied by Swedish industry.

Expected results and effects:

OCEAN-LSAM bidrar till att stärka Sveriges konkurrenskraft genom att möjliggöra en “twin transition” till morgondagens cirkulära ekonomimodell för tillverkning. Resultat hjälper till att uppfylla FN:s SDG 9, 11, 12 och 14 genom att 1) utveckla en återvunnen havspolyamidavfallskomposit, 2) utveckla en LSAM-process optimerad för den havspolyamidkompositen, och 3) repelletering för ytterligare LSAM.

Projektet stärkte EU:s LSAM-ekosystem mellan Sverige och Portugal, vilket är avgörande inte bara för Sveriges konkurrenskraft utan också att tackla våra globala utmaningar. Approach and implementation:

OCEAN-LSAM was a six-month Step 1 feasibility study under the Circularity in Industrial Production Strategic Innovation Program from October 2022 through March 2023. OCEAN-LSAM comprised Chalmers University of Technology (Project Coordinator), RISE Application Center for Additive Manufacturing, Ekbacken Studios AB, Artex AB, and Ocean Tech Hub LDA. The project’s five work packages were 1) Recycling of Ocean Polyamide Waste for LSAM, 2) Design & Production with LSAM, 3) Computational Model for LSAM, 4) Microfactory & Communication, and 5) Project Management and Application.