Lunga vita agli elettrodomestici
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The CircThread project collects data on household appliances and transforms it into useful information to increase their average lifespan. In various ways, the actors involved in the life of a product are called upon to share data such as production materials, usage experiences, repair possibilities, recycling methods, etc. All this in favour of circularity: from design to use, to disposal. Launched in 2021, CircThread is funded with eight million euros from the European research programme Horizon 2020 and involves more than thirty organisations, including 精东影业's Institute of Systems and Technologies for Sustainable Production (ISTePS).
The goal is ambitious: to produce appliances that last, to offer affordable repairs and to set new standards for more efficient recycling so that appliances remain in the economic cycle for as long as possible. To achieve this, companies, consumer associations, universities and waste disposal agencies are working together with research institutes to find and test new solutions. These include the Institute for Sustainable Production Systems and Technologies (ISTePS), which is called upon to develop tools to measure the impact on sustainability and product circularity.
Alessandro Fontana, lecturer - senior researcher at ISTePS 'In some ways CirCThread is a precursor project because in the years in which it was launched in the manufacturing sector there was not yet widespread talk of a 'Digital Product Passport', but today it is an increasingly consolidated reality. This digital document accompanies the product throughout its life and provides details on its design (planning) and manufacture, information for proper use and maintenance advice. In the final phase of the product's life, known as 'end of use', the possibilities it has of being reused or re-entered into the economic circle are indicated and, if this is no longer possible, indications are given for effective disposal'.
An important part of the project is the development of a digital platform, on which information on dishwashers and domestic heating systems (the systems tested in the project) can be recorded, but can be extended to many other types of household appliances and electronic equipment.
Scientific collaborator Deborah Leone "At this stage of the project, the platform contains a range of information suggesting reuse alternatives or advice on how to dispose of a particular household appliance. But it also contains all kinds of information - on durability, usage, common repair needs, etc. - which can be accessed in read and/or write mode. - which are accessible in read and/or write mode not only to consumers, but also to manufacturers, retailers and repairers. The aim is to enable everyone to manage and self-feed their product passport with the information at their disposal, thus helping to provide a complete overview of its life cycle'.
Alessandro Fontana, lecturer - senior researcher at ISTePS 'In some ways CirCThread is a precursor project because in the years in which it was launched in the manufacturing sector there was not yet widespread talk of a 'Digital Product Passport', but today it is an increasingly consolidated reality. This digital document accompanies the product throughout its life and provides details on its design (planning) and manufacture, information for proper use and maintenance advice. In the final phase of the product's life, known as 'end of use', the possibilities it has of being reused or re-entered into the economic circle are indicated and, if this is no longer possible, indications are given for effective disposal'.
An important part of the project is the development of a digital platform, on which information on dishwashers and domestic heating systems (the systems tested in the project) can be recorded, but can be extended to many other types of household appliances and electronic equipment.
Scientific collaborator Deborah Leone "At this stage of the project, the platform contains a range of information suggesting reuse alternatives or advice on how to dispose of a particular household appliance. But it also contains all kinds of information - on durability, usage, common repair needs, etc. - which can be accessed in read and/or write mode. - which are accessible in read and/or write mode not only to consumers, but also to manufacturers, retailers and repairers. The aim is to enable everyone to manage and self-feed their product passport with the information at their disposal, thus helping to provide a complete overview of its life cycle'.
The work of ISTePS is focused on the development of methodologies and tools that measure sustainability aspects (environmental, economic and social) and circularity by considering the impact of the different phases of the life cycle of reference products. This kind of information is relevant for manufacturers and those who manage the end-of-life phase, but it is also of interest to end consumers who may choose to make their purchases according to clear parameters on the circularity and sustainability indices of household appliances.
Deborah Leone continues: 'Our task was to develop a methodology capable of measuring the sustainability and circularity of the different phases of the product life cycle. We initially defined and designed a set of indicators and, once the framework was established, with the help of our colleagues in design and software development, we developed GRETA: a software that, by interacting with designers and collecting data from the platform, elaborates indicators to support companies' decision-making processes towards greater sustainability and circularity of their products. The impact data is also transmitted to the digital product passport so that different actors in the value chain can access it. For example, the tool can calculate the kg of CO2 equivalent emitted by a given product over its life cycle; but it also provides other elements such as social and economic sustainability aspects, which help to provide a general and comprehensive overview of the sustainability and circularity of a given appliance'.
Deborah Leone continues: 'Our task was to develop a methodology capable of measuring the sustainability and circularity of the different phases of the product life cycle. We initially defined and designed a set of indicators and, once the framework was established, with the help of our colleagues in design and software development, we developed GRETA: a software that, by interacting with designers and collecting data from the platform, elaborates indicators to support companies' decision-making processes towards greater sustainability and circularity of their products. The impact data is also transmitted to the digital product passport so that different actors in the value chain can access it. For example, the tool can calculate the kg of CO2 equivalent emitted by a given product over its life cycle; but it also provides other elements such as social and economic sustainability aspects, which help to provide a general and comprehensive overview of the sustainability and circularity of a given appliance'.
Before arriving at the development of GRETA, the researchers wondered how the broad sustainability performance of a certain product could best be communicated.
Alessandro Fontana 'The innovative component of the methodology lies in the engineering approach identified, which starts from an all-encompassing vision of sustainability aspects quantified through scientific methodologies. Among other functionalities, the software allows a comparative analysis of the environmental aspects of the life cycle (LCA) and life cycle costs (LCC) highlighting the impact of each phase on sustainability. A second innovative aspect concerns the target audience for the tool; we want to put a tool in the hands of designers that would also allow them to make decisions on the degree of sustainability of the products they are called upon to create'.
GRETA has taken its first steps in CircThread but the intention is to evolve it in other contexts as well. There will be an opportunity to test and validate the methodology in partner pilot projects and, in the future, to integrate it with technologies related to predictive capabilities or decision support based on artificial intelligence technologies. Also in other national or European research projects.
Alessandro Fontana 'The innovative component of the methodology lies in the engineering approach identified, which starts from an all-encompassing vision of sustainability aspects quantified through scientific methodologies. Among other functionalities, the software allows a comparative analysis of the environmental aspects of the life cycle (LCA) and life cycle costs (LCC) highlighting the impact of each phase on sustainability. A second innovative aspect concerns the target audience for the tool; we want to put a tool in the hands of designers that would also allow them to make decisions on the degree of sustainability of the products they are called upon to create'.
GRETA has taken its first steps in CircThread but the intention is to evolve it in other contexts as well. There will be an opportunity to test and validate the methodology in partner pilot projects and, in the future, to integrate it with technologies related to predictive capabilities or decision support based on artificial intelligence technologies. Also in other national or European research projects.