EcoPlast: Empowering Circular Operations in the Automotive Plastics Value Chain

The automotive sector is one of the largest users of plastics, yet current practices rely heavily on virgin materials and exhibit low circularity rates. Several critical challenges drive the need for research like EcoPlast:

• Low recycling and reuse rates: Most automotive plastics end up incinerated or in landfills because of complex material compositions and contamination.
• Lack of traceability and trust: The absence of standardised systems for tracking recycled content creates uncertainty among manufacturers and regulators.
• Quality and safety concerns: Secondary plastics often fail to meet durability, toxicity, and performance standards required for high-value automotive applications.
• Regulatory pressure: EU policies such as the Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan demand significant reductions in waste and increased use of recycled materials.

Without innovative solutions, the industry cannot meet sustainability goals or create cost-effective circular value chains. EcoPlast addresses these issues by developing an integrated digital platform featuring eco-design tools, Life Cycle Assessment, Circularity Index measurement, Digital Product Passports for traceability, and AI-driven process automation. These will optimize material recovery, enhance process efficiency, and enable the use of high-quality secondary plastics in new vehicles.

Our project

The EcoPlast project addresses the pressing challenge of plastic waste and low circularity in the automotive industry by developing an integrated digital platform to optimise the entire automotive plastics value chain. Our approach combines advanced digital technologies with innovative recycling and upcycling methods to ensure that secondary plastics achieve high-quality, non-toxicity, and durability standards required for automotive applications. The platform will provide a secure collaborative space and incorporate tools such as ecoDesign for sustainable product design, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool to evaluate environmental impacts, and a Circularity Index (CI) calculator to measure progress toward circularity goals. Digital Twins will enable real-time process optimization for manufacturing and recycling operations, while AI and robotics will automate the detection, sorting, and dismantling of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs). To guarantee full traceability and build trust, we will implement a blockchain-based Digital Product Passport (DPP), ensuring data security and transparency across the value chain. Additionally, a circular marketplace will be established to promote trading of recycled and upcycled materials, supporting reuse, repair, and remanufacturing of automotive components. These combined solutions will create a scalable, data-driven ecosystem that fosters sustainability and maximizes resource efficiency in the automotive sector.

Research impact

The EcoPlast project will drive a fundamental shift from a linear to a circular model in the automotive plastics sector, creating tangible benefits for multiple stakeholders beyond academia. Automotive manufacturers and their suppliers will gain access to reliable, high-quality secondary materials for producing durable components, reducing dependency on virgin plastics and minimizing environmental footprints. Recyclers and dismantlers will benefit from AI-driven automation and Digital Twins, which streamline ELV processing and improve material recovery efficiency. Policymakers and regulators will leverage traceability features provided by the Digital Product Passport to enforce compliance with sustainability legislation and circular economy objectives. Furthermore, the introduction of a digital marketplace will enable new business models for trading recycled and upcycled plastics, unlocking economic opportunities within and beyond the automotive sector. These solutions will be applied in automotive production plants, recycling facilities, and plastics processing industries across Europe and globally. Beyond the automotive industry, the methodologies and tools developed in EcoPlast can be adapted to other sectors such as electronics, construction, and packaging, helping to establish more sustainable and circular material flows across different value chains.

Brunel Composites Centre's Role

Brunel University London (via the Brunel Composites Centre) plays a key role in modelling and performance prediction of recycled material-based components. Specifically:

• Data integration from UC partners: UC partners provide physical and chemical properties of novel materials (e.g., recycled plastics blended with virgin polymers).
• Simulation and modelling: BUL uses these inputs to develop computational models predicting the mechanical, thermal, and structural performance of these materials in specific automotive parts (e.g., rear bumpers, dashboards).
• AI model support: The simulation results feed into AI-based predictive models, enabling optimisation of design and manufacturing processes for circular automotive components.

This approach ensures that the new materials can meet strict automotive standards while accelerating their adoption in real-world applications.

Project Partners

• Brunel University London (Brunel Composites Centre)
• Technovative Solutions Ltd. (Coordinator)
• Ford Otomotiv Sanayi
• Centro Ricerche FIAT
• Stryker Design Ltd
• Assan Hanil Otomotiv San 
• Adler Group 
• Eurotec Muhendislik Plastikleri 
• Proplast 
• Beker Recycle 
• Pollini Group 
• Sabanci University 
• Cardiff University 
• Istanbul University 
• Simularge 
• Kordsa Teknik Tekstil 
• Digi Prod Pass Ltd.