In the last years, the concept of circular economy has been a recurrent theme in the international agendas, with companies, start-ups, designers, academics, students and legislators of national and international politics embracing this change in the paradigm of the economic model. In the same way, there is a growing demand for an economy that is restorative and regenerative through design, as a way to leverage innovation and stimulate the pursuit of new circular opportunities by entrepreneurs and managers in various industrial sectors. However, the perception of the value of products derived from recycled raw materials, and their social acceptance, is still conditioned by many factors, including poor information on the potential of these new materials. The change to a Circular Economy and the valorisation of recycled materials and products requires a systemic approach to change, considering new ways of designing, manufacturing and marketing value-added recycled products and goods. Networked knowledge sharing, allows for more effective interaction with various change agents, pioneers of a new world view and the way to rethink how it works, paving the way for a Circular Economy based on a collaborative R&D approach with positive social and environmental impacts. This collaborative project aims to establish a preliminary working relationship with researchers and R&D entities with recognized know-how and experience in the recovery of waste and by-products from various industrial sectors, with the ultimate goal of establishing a methodological model for setting standards of perceived value, aiming at the emotional acceptance of recycled raw materials applied to the design of new products that favour a Circular Economy and positively impact the business model of different productive sectors. Although the Bío-Bío region, in Chile, is taken as the main case study, it is intended to extrapolate the methodology to other geographic sectors, such as Portugal and Italy. The collaborative network thus aims to disseminate a tool for assessing the value perception of recycled materials, formulating new joint R&D initiatives to promote the development of innovative materials and recycled products with an approach to the concept of DIY materials (Do It Yourself materials). These materials result from individual or collective production, often by techniques and processes of the designer's own invention, as a result of empirical work with different materials. This project aims to develop new materials, or a new version of existing materials, and to assess their perceived value and social acceptance. The network is made up of universities, technological centres and companies, and is coordinated by the Universidad del Bío-Bío de Chile, through the Design Research Group, which is part of the Department of Art and Design Technologies. The consortium also includes an industrial partner, MASISA SA through MASISA LAB I + D based in Concepción (Chile), and three European R&D entities: the Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials (CeNTI, Portugal), the Politecnico di Milano, and BTS Design Innovation srl (Italy).

Main goals

This collaborative R&D network aims to strengthen the link between the different consortium entities, with a view to preparing new partnerships with a common guideline for the valorisation of waste from different industrial sources through design, thus fostering innovation and promoting environmental awareness and social welfare. The project aims to present new joint R&D initiatives, access to equipment and facilities of the entities involved for the development and characterization of new materials, organization of open seminars for wide dissemination of the project results in the productive, academic and general public sectors. Visits will also be made to companies from various sectors and potential producers or suppliers of raw materials, and their potential interest in the commercialization of new products will be assessed.

Project duration: January 2018 to december 2019

Total eligible cost: 23 601.00 €