Projektet har studerat sårbarheter i försörjningen av kritiska material och produkter vid kris eller konflikt, men också möjligheter till stärkt nationell resiliens. Genom fallstudier och systemanalys har projektet undersökt hur Sverige kan öka sin förmåga att snabbt ställa om och säkra tillgången till viktiga komponenter inom vård, skyddsutrustning och elektronik.Projektet har fokuserat på följande materialområden: plast, metall och elektronik. Plast är till stor del fossilbaserad och har låg återvinningsgrad, metaller kräver ofta importerade legeringsämnen trots goda inhemska resurser och dagens elektronikproduktion är starkt globaliserad med låg självförsörjningsgrad. Samtidigt finns betydande inhemsk kapacitet inom flera områden –exempelvis plastformulering, metallbearbetning och elektronikmontering – som kan mobiliseras vid behov.Fallstudier på medicintekniska produkter visade att additiv tillverkning (3D-printing) kan bidra till snabb omställning men har begränsningar i materialval och produktionsvolym. För formsprutning, som traditionellt har längre ledtider, kan dessa reduceras kraftigt genom effektiv samverkan och parallella arbetsmoment. En ny produkt designades, verifierades och producerades inom 60 timmar – ett tydligt exempel på hur svensk industri kan agera snabbt vid behov.För munskydd klass IIR genomfördes nödproduktion med testning enligt gällande standarder. Nationell kapacitet finns för vissa non-woven-material, medan man för andra är beroende av import. En mobil produktionslinje testades och utvärderades genom sårbarhetsanalys, vilket visade att även små enheter kan bidra till märkbart ökad resiliens.Inom elektronikområdet identifierades flera utmaningar. Fallstudien på växelriktare visade att återtillverkning och reparation är möjligt med rätt kompetens och tillgång till komponenter. Många delar kan återanvändas från konsumentelektronik, men avancerade halvledarkomponenter kräver import. Inhemsk kapacitet finns för mönsterkort, transformatorer och montering, vilket ger goda förutsättningar för decentraliserad produktion.Rapporten presenterar även metoder för att utvärdera resiliens – både kvalitativt och kvantitativt – där samspelet mellan teknik, organisation och kompetens är avgörande. Genom att identifiera svaga länkar, bygga redundans och träna personal kan svensk försörjningsförmåga stärkas. Slutsatsen är tydlig: Sverige har kapacitet och kapabilitet att bygga ett mer motståndskraftigt system, men kräver strategiska investeringar och samordning.

The production of vehicles is one of the most resource-intensive industries. 10 % of the overall consumption of plastics, 6 million tonnes/year is used by the European vehicle industry1. Increase the use of recycled plastics in vehicles is one of the key challenges for sustainable transformation of the vehicle industry as it plays an important role in saving resources and reducing greenhouse emissions. The main goal of this project was to contribute to increased use of recycled plastic in the Swedish vehicle industry. Volvo Cars goal is that 25 % of the plastic used in cars should be recycled or biobased by 2025. The goal will most probably be reached according to Volvo Cars. Volvo group has the goal to be fossil neutral, which requires recycled material in the truck components. The recycled plastics evaluated in the project came from both post industrial waste (PIR) and post consumer waste (PCR). Rondo Plast, Polykemi, Albis, Mocom, Biesterfield, Borealis, Sabic, Total and LG Chem have supplied recycled and virgin plastics tested in the project. The plastics we have focusing on in this project were polypropylene (PP) plastics (homo- and copolymer) and PC/ABS plastic compounds. Thus, these plastics are most used in vehicle components and recycled PP plastics are more accessible than the other plastics that can be used in vehicles. Analysis and evaluation of recycled plastics have been performed by RISE. Also, long term ageing and recyclability studies have been performed. A study to upgrade PP plastic recycled from packaging (PCR) with additives from DOW and Rondo Plast were performed.

Closed smart loops for stretch films

In this project, we have investigated the possibilities of sorting packaging, pallet stretch film, stretch hood and shrink hood into cleaner fractions than sorted out today. All these films are used to protect goods that are transported on pallets. The films are mostly sorted together as flexible plastic that is recycled into garbage bags. If the different films can be sorted into different fractions, they can be recycled into a new similar film in a closed loop. The demand for sorted material is great because Trioworld, which is one of the world's largest film manufacturers, aims to use 30% recycled material in all their products. We have investigated the possibilities of sorting different types of plastic film at two different types of businesses, the Västra Götaland Region's Depot in Sisjön, distributing goods to the region's hospitals and health centres. The other business was Inovyn, manufacturing plastic raw material. The collections were sucessful and VGR managed to increase the stretch film content in the flexible plastic stream from 82 to 96 %. Material properties such as strain at break for blown film increased from 535 to 604% in machine direction. Trioworld judged the sorted material to function in a closed material loop for production of new stretch film. The biggest obstacle was the paper labels with the addressee put on the plastic film, impossible to remove easily. When re-melting and compounding the plastic, paper labels burn and clog the melt filter in the equipment. In addition, the mechanical properties deteriorate due to the label contamination. The solution is to use plastic labels or use glue that comes off in hot water and can be washed off. In the VGR sorting the labels were cut off to show the potential for recycling well-sorted pallet stretch film without paper labels. Inovyn had no labels in their sorted films. They separated their flow of flexible film in three fractions, stretch hood, shrink hood and stretch film. A significant improvement was for example observed for the shrink hood where the elongation increased from 326 to 414% on blown film in the machine direction. The material fractions were 100% correctly sorted. On a workshop the project partners discussed challenges and obstacles to make a closed loop work. To make recycling work in practice, the type of labels needs to be changed. Logistics and retrieval of different material fractions separately is needed. The inhouse collection worked, but waste collectors and logistic companies need to be involved in future project to overcome the obstacles.

This report is one delivery (Work package 3) within the project CONSTRUCTIVATE focused on plastics construction materials and their recycling possibilities.Aim and objective of this part of the project was to compile the types of plastics present in construction and demolition waste (CDW) and investigate which can and should be recycled based on technical opportunities, environmental impact and economic aspects (such as market potential). Some material fractions were selected and methods to improve the recyclability and evaluate the material quality were studied. Some demonstrator products were manufactured in order to show some examples for use of the CDW material.Methods used were literature studies, market analysis, interviews, study visits and practical tests. The practical tests included material collection, manufacturing of test objects and evaluation of the product quality, for example fire resistance and mechanical strength.The conclusion is that it is technically possible and environmentally and economically justified to collect and recycle most building products in plastic, especially in construction. For installation waste, there are already collection systems for both plastic floors and plastic pipes. However, relatively little of the waste is collected in these systems. Therefore, given the great environmental benefits, it is very positive that projects have now started to develop both of these collection systems. An important prerequisite for recycling to increase is that builders and property owners begin to demand that the waste is collected. In order to have a good impact on the system, both project managers and floor contractors must take an active responsibility in this.

During demolition and renovation, there may be obstacles if the products are joined or contaminated with other materials. Here, technology has been developed to be able to remove e.g. filler and glue from floors and we see that this development continues for more products. Another obstacle to old products may be the content of substances that are currently regulated at EU level or undesirable for other reasons. Processes are now being developed to remove these old plastic additives, but it is also important that we get a balanced discussion about the levelling between climate benefit and the content of undesirable chemicals in the recycling of long-life products. If recycling can be done safely, this should be given priority because the climate benefits are so great. Another obstacle to really old plastic products may be that they have started to break down and have poorer properties. Here it is important to develop chemical recycling as a complement to the mechanical in order to be able to recycle all plastic products from the construction sector.In construction, packaging plastic is present in significant quantities and it is therefore an interesting fraction to collect and recycle to new plastic packaging or plastic bags, or alternatively to wooden plastic composites. As a result of CONSTRUCTIVATE, a six-month-long project has started to create a circular system for packaging plastic from the construction industry, Cirem.Practical experiments were made to investigate the use of recycled plastic pipes for new pipes (cable protection pipes and optocable pipes) and for plastic profiles (nail strip and © RISE Research Institutes of Swedenjoint strip). Plastic packaging and construction plastic from two construction sites were collected, and recycled into wood fiber composites (VPC materials). The noise reduction plank produced from this material showed good mechanical properties.Washing tests with old PVC-flooring succeeded in dissolving and washing away glue residue from these floorings. This is important because then even glued floors can be recycled to new floor mats. In 2019, Tarkett launched a method to remove glue and putty on an industrial scale and began to recycle floors from demolition/renovation.As a result of CONSTRUCTIVATE, new projects have been started to study certain products in more detail. CiREM will develop a collection and recycling system for building foil and packaging plastic. Several players in the construction industry participate. The Repipe demo project will demonstrate a collection and recycling system for plastic pipes in southern Sweden. About 30 players in the industry participate. Both projects are funded by Re: Source. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is financing a development of the recycling system GBR Floor Recycling to increase the recycling of plastic floors in the Swedish market.