ReMade@ARI – a hub for materials development for recycling

Materials research for advanced Circular Economy at the small angle scattering system (KWS-3) at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum. Materials research for advanced circular economy at the small angle scattering system (KWS-3) at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum.

Materials research for advanced circular economy at the small angle scattering system (KWS-3) at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum.

Together with more than 50 research infrastructures, the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) is participating in the EU project ReMade@ARI, which starts on September 1, 2022. The aim of the project, which is funded with 13.8 million Euros, is to develop new materials that are competitive and highly recyclable.

The European Union’s (EU) Circular Economy Action Plan is based on the assumption that up to 80 percent of a product’s environmental impact is determined during the design phase. In order to foster a comprehensive approach to sustainable production and products, the European research infrastructure project ReMade@ARI is about to be launched: it commits to leverage the development of on innovative, sustainable materials in the most diverse sectors, such as electronics, batteries, vehicles, construction, packaging, plastics, textiles and food on an unprecedented level.

Sustainability and competitiveness

In order to meet the challenge of designing new materials that are both competitively functional and highly recyclable, the potential of more than 50 analytical research infrastructures of the European ARIE network will be harnessed, including the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ). ReMade@ARI will start on September 1, 2022, under the leadership of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf.

An illustrative example: In the supermarket, fruits and vegetables are often packaged in plastics to extend their shelf life. In future, bio-based materials derived from wood could provide a sustainable alternative. This is where ReMade@ARI comes into play: research leading to the development of sophisticated new materials crucially relies on access to the world-class European research infrastructures, which joined forces in ReMade@ARI.

Neutrons help to develop new materials

The ReMade@ARI platform will be the central hub for all sectors and research areas in which new materials for a circular economy will be developed. “We provide scientists who are working on the design of new recyclable materials with analytical tools that enable them to explore the properties and the structure of their material in smallest details up to atomic resolution. This requires the exploitation of the most diverse analytical methods, involving appropriate combinations of photons, electrons, neutrons, ions, positrons and the highest magnetic fields,” says Dr. Stefan Facsko, the project’s scientific coordinator. “Any scientist in academic or industrial research working on new recyclable materials should get in touch with us.”

Enabling optimal research

A particular focus will be on scientists in research fields in which up to now, the potential of research infrastructures has not yet been exploited. “We will offer them an all-round service, closely collaborating with them to identify the relevant properties to be analyzed in order to develop the optimum material for a particular purpose. Based on that, the most suitable research infrastructures to measure these properties will be identified from among the pool of Europe’s unique facilities”

Expansion of the circular economy

ReMade@ARI will have a significant impact on the advancement of the circular economy. Overall, 40 partners of the ARIE network are involved in the project. HZDR alone is contributing three large-scale user facilities: the Ion Beam Center (IBC), the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory (HLD) and the positron source at the positron beamline of the ELBE Center for High-Power Radiation Sources (pELBE).

Dr. Barbara Schramm, EU-Liaison Officer at HZDR, explains: “With a pool of highly motivated young researchers, the project will offer a user service of unprecedented quality which will enable each promising idea to be brought to success. We encourage in particular researchers from industry, for which we have put together an extensive package of support measures tailor-made to industry needs, to get in touch with us.”

Original text: Kim-Astrid Magister, HZDR