The Interreg Elast2sustain Project

or
“How can we reinvent thermoplastic elastomers for a sustainable future?"

TPEs: A Sustainable Alternative to Rubber

It is impossible to imagine our daily lives without plastics. Due to their lightweight nature, colorability, corrosion resistance, and ability to be shaped, the range of possible applications is vast. When elasticity and flexibility are required, vulcanized rubbers are often used. Rubbers have the disadvantage of being difficult or impossible to recycle and also require specific processing expertise, which explains why only a limited number of companies are active in the rubber industry.

In order to improve the processing and, consequently, the recyclability of rubber, thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) were introduced to the market as alternative materials in 1960. Over the past 10 to 15 years, a large number of new TPE materials have been developed and can serve as an attractive alternative to various rubber materials.

From Elasto-Plast to Elast2sustain

Given that TPE materials are relatively new, an initial Interreg Elasto-Plast project (2016–2021) aimed to raise awareness of these materials among businesses. A network of interested companies was established in the border region of Hauts-de-France, Wallonia, and Flanders, and the potential of TPE materials was demonstrated through concrete practical examples that companies could begin working with.

Givencurrent inflation in raw material prices,the growing carbon footprint, and the need to address the large volume of synthetic plastic waste, these same companies are increasingly seeking sustainable solutions. On the one hand, they are exploring the possibility of using recycled polymers (circular economy), and on the other hand, demand for bio-based materials (green economy) is also rising in order to reduce dependence on the planet’s finite resources, such as oil.

Knowledge regarding the recycling of end-of-life TPE and the production of sustainable building blocks (such as those derived from biomass or non-recyclable TPE waste streams) is virtually nonexistent among companies in the border region. To address these issues, a second Interreg project, Elast2sustain, was launched in October 2024 with partners Centexbel, Certech, EuraMaterials, KU Leuven, ULille, and URCA.

Toward greener recycling and production

It is expected that TPE products can be reprocessed into usable raw materials using various recycling techniques. However, the choice of the most appropriate recycling technique depends heavily on the shape, hardness, and contamination of the TPE products.

• Initially, mechanical recycling will be explored with the aim of producing usable regranulate that can be reused as raw material in various plastic processing methods (extrusion, injection molding, 3D printing).
• For streams of small plastic waste that are difficult to recycle mechanically ( mixed and/or contaminated plastics), chemical recycling may be an alternative.

Two different chemical recycling techniques will be studied in depth:

• pyrolysis (thermal or catalytic cracking of materials into usable oil or gaseous products),
• chemical depolymerization (breakdown into monomers or oligomers).

Finally, the development of a new generation of sustainable small businesses using building blocks recovered through chemical recycling, on the one hand, and bio-based building blocks, on the other, will be explored. The scalability of various recycling and synthesis techniques will be demonstrated to recycling companies and plastics processing firms in the border region.

Impact and objectives of the project

As part of this project, the partners will focus on three jointly developed pilot projects:

• Mechanical recycling of TPE
• Chemical recycling of TPE
• Development of a Sustainable Small Business

In this way, Elast2sustain aims to contribute to the development of products made from recycled and/or bio-based materials in companies located in the Hauts-de-France, Wallonia, and Flanders regions.

This project is part of the European Green Deal and the Circular Plastics Alliance (CPA), whose goal is to grow the European market for recycled plastics to 10 million tons by 2025.

👉 Recycling TPE materials can give the industry a further boost and significantly increase the volume of recycled materials!

Learn more!
If you have any questions about this topic or the Elast2sustain project,
please feel free to contact Lionel BUISSIERES.

The Elast2sustain project, launched in October 2024 for a four-year term, aims to explore new avenues for the mechanical and chemical recycling of end-of-life thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) in order to reduce their environmental impact and facilitate their reintegration into production cycles. It also aims to develop families of bio-based TPE, particularly from CO₂, to offer low-carbon materials and promote the transition to a bio-based economy. With a total budget of €2.8 million (including €1.7 million in European funding), the project brings together several key partners: Centexbel (lead partner), Certech, URCA, ULille, KU Leuven, and Euramaterials. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate the practical use of recycled and bio-based TPE in new products, in order to support plastics processing companies in moving toward a more circular economy.