Final meeting of the project INSPIRES (EIT RawMaterials)

20240606_125800

With the final INSPIRES project (EIT RawMaterials) meeting, the members of the Nanostructured Materials Department (Dr. Benjamin Podmiljšak, Dr. Tomaž Tomše, and Prof. Dr. Spomenka Kobe) in the consortium of 11 partners reported on the achieved goals. The INSPIRES project in the RIS Slovenia region has demonstrated a successful example of a circular economy without waste.  Through radical eco-innovations in the recycling of permanent magnets, with a focus on the easily accessible resource of motors in household appliances, we have developed new automated processes for dismantling waste appliances and recovering magnets from them.  We have established recycling methods and tested new circular economy pathways with key industrial partners within the region (Kolektor, Gorenje, Domel, ZEOS, Surovina). We have analyzed their sustainable performance in terms of economic and environmentally sound life cycles. Knowledge and technologies from non-RIS regions (recycling technology was provided by the German partner University of Pforzheim) contributed to the refinement in the Slovenia region. The Brussels-based partner CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) effectively communicated the project’s achievements to decision-makers for further action.