Actions

The results to be achieved are ambitious. The partners will implement actions that aim to carry out a drastic reduction of some environmental indicators at the cluster level, such as:

  • reduction of used raw materials (replaced by waste material)
  • reduction of waste production (shifted to by-products)
  • reduction of disposal of waste (alternative treatments)
  • reduction of energy resources
  • reduction of water resources

In order to achieve these goals, the partners have planned a set of actions that will be developed during the project lifetime:

This action aims to obtain a full spectrum of what has been done so far, to know what are the legal limits to be respected in each Country and the social and technical aspects concerning the waste management to be improved.  In particular, the study will provide a preliminary overview about previous similar cases  that setup a platform for the identification, registration and characterization of material waste streams, in order to:

  • Analyze the motivation to develop and implement a network approach
  • Understand the results emerged and problems encountered
  • Provide quantitative information about their database of waste streams and companies involved
  • Analyze, if present, the best practices developed in these platforms
  • Study if a win-win approach can be achieved by partnering the on-line digital Materials Match Making Platform at European level

RESULTS

The partners had to define and develop a set of operational tools in order to allow to reach data and information on waste and raw materials coming from the companies. The developed tool consists in a Waste/Material Check-list, used by the partners in order to record technical data of waste/materials and a Waste Senso-aesthetic Characteristics.
A second important aspect is the involvement of companies: they must be informed and be available to share their data. Three approaches have been identified:
– 1-to-1 contact;
– sectoral approach;
– workshop (collective contacts).

Achieved results are:

Region Companies Waste
                        Expected Involved Expected Catalogued
Lombardy 100 162 250 289
Flanders 100 104 200 561
Asturias 10 13 15 20
Western Macedonia 25 27 30 59
Total 235 306 485 929

Even if  this action was concluded in 2018 since the numerical project objectives have been reached, but involvement, recruiting and cataloguing of companies and waste will continue to the end of the project.

This action aims to develop pilot cases of industrial symbiosis by using the platform M3P and implementing in-depth studies about significant waste streams. The pilot cases will foresee the involvement of companies and they will experiment at lab scale potentially new treatments, approaches and ways of application on the basis of the matches between companies having waste stream offers and request using Material Match Making Platform.

A set of waste will be selected in each local area, though the most significant ones in order to apply for the pilot cases and the eco-design concepts. The selected waste and materials will be analyzed more deeply. In particular, they will be assessed about their environmental impact, notably for the end of life impact, using well known methodology, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the Product Environmental Footprint.  These methodologies will be useful to the eco-design approach in order to give useful information to young designers who will be involved in the next action for the development of new product concepts.

RESULTS

The waste registered in the M3P platform are more than 380, come from several sectors: Textiles, Paper industry, Polymers and plastics, Wood industry, Fur industry, Steel industry, Chemistry, Oils and fats, Construction.
About 100 waste have been characterized and 26 have been deeply investigated. For some selected waste (for importance, quantity, economic value, potentialities, etc.) LCA studies have been carried out. Using the on-line M3P Platform features, some matches have been identified between companies offering and requesting a similar waste stream.
Thanks to the potential matches identified, several possible pilot cases have been defined. For each of them, a general evaluation was made in terms of potential environmental impact, interest of companies involved, industrial sector and technological feasibility.

11 Pilot cases have been investigated, of which 6 completed: Cotton Paper, Bark, Wood shavings, CDW, Short Trimmed Yarns, Methanol. Two pilot cases originated a new company (Redecan) and a consortium (CCU Hub). The other 5 pilot cases are still under investigation by a working teaM.

For a detailed description of some pilot cases and about investigated waste and sectors, download the Layman’s Report and the  DD1-8 Electronic Final Report_v1.

This action aims to evaluate the impact of LIFE M3P project on the environment characterizing the territories involved in the project. The activities of this action aim especially to assess the improvement of the environmental performances achieved by SMEs participating in the LIFE M3P project, starting from the main environmental problems related to the waste of the territory.

Starting from the environmental problems of selected territories, the partners will define a methodology for the progress assessment of the environmental impact of the project.

At the beginning of the project, partners identified a set of set of environmental indicators to be improved thanks to the LIFE M3P activities:

  • Reduction of waste production at the cluster level: approximately -10%
  • Reduction of waste production at the SME level: in a range between -2% and -5% in at least 3 SMEs.
  • Improvement of separate waste collection at the cluster level: at least 10%.

Furthermore, despite the project focus is on materials, the partnership expects to also obtain energy and water savings through the re-use of the material waste stream, like:

  • Reduction of energy consumption at the cluster level
  • Reduction of use of nonrenewable sources at the cluster level
  • Reduction of water consumption at the cluster level
  • Reduction of the emissions of CO2 at the cluster level

RESULTS

This was an important task for the project, as it monitored the improvement that this could have on the environment and therefore the effectiveness of the project itself. Monitoring was carried out in two ways:
1. cataloguing of industrial waste in the project areas, according to the defined methodology, and correlation with the economic dynamics of the areas.
2. evaluation of the impact reduction potential thanks to the pilot cases: reused-waste, CO2-eq emissions, net fresh water consumption, non-renewable resource consumption.

According to results from all pilot cases, the estimated reduction of impact indicators (December 2019) at project level:

KPI Goal Life M3P

single pilot results

Waste recovered (ton) 60.350,00 42.469,9
Climate Change (ton CO2-eq) 54.750,00 41.482,0
water consumption (m3) 99.650,00 72.099,9
Resources saved (ton) 84.200,00 59.260,8

For all pilot cases, it is possible to evaluate a projection at cluster level with also LCA comparison if data available. All data are projected at cluster level according to local economic analysis and number of similar producers that we can find in M3P platform.

The estimation of reduction of impact indicators (December 2019) at cluster level is:

KPI Goal Life M3P

clusters results

Waste recovered (ton) 60.350,00 141.253,4
Climate Change (ton CO2-eq) 54.750,00 137.919,6
water consumption (m3) 99.650,00 239.717,4
Resources saved (ton) 84.200,00 197.028,4

This action aims to evaluate the impact of LIFE M3P project on the environment characterizing the territories involved in the project. The activities of this action aim especially to assess the improvement of the environmental performances achieved by SMEs participating in the LIFE M3P project, starting from the main environmental problems related to the waste of the territory.

Starting from the environmental problems of selected territories, the partners will define a methodology for the progress assessment of the environmental impact of the project.

At the beginning of the project, partners identified a set of set of environmental indicators to be improved thanks to the LIFE M3P activities:

  • Reduction of waste production at the cluster level: approximately -10%
  • Reduction of waste production at the SME level: in a range between -2% and -5% in at least 3 SMEs.
  • Improvement of separate waste collection at the cluster level: at least 10%.

Furthermore, despite the project focus is on materials, the partnership expects to also obtain energy and water savings through the re-use of the material waste stream, like:

  • Reduction of energy consumption at the cluster level
  • Reduction of use of nonrenewable sources at the cluster level
  • Reduction of water consumption at the cluster level
  • Reduction of the emissions of CO2 at the cluster level

RESULTS

This was an important task for the project, as it monitored the improvement that this could have on the environment and therefore the effectiveness of the project itself. Monitoring was carried out in two ways:
1. cataloguing of industrial waste in the project areas, according to the defined methodology, and correlation with the economic dynamics of the areas.
2. evaluation of the impact reduction potential thanks to the pilot cases: reused-waste, CO2-eq emissions, net fresh water consumption, non-renewable resource consumption.

According to results from all pilot cases, the estimated reduction of impact indicators (December 2019) at project level:

KPI Goal Life M3P

single pilot results

Waste recovered (ton) 60.350,00 42.469,9
Climate Change (ton CO2-eq) 54.750,00 41.482,0
water consumption (m3) 99.650,00 72.099,9
Resources saved (ton) 84.200,00 59.260,8

For all pilot cases, it is possible to evaluate a projection at cluster level with also LCA comparison if data available. All data are projected at cluster level according to local economic analysis and number of similar producers that we can find in M3P platform.

The estimation of reduction of impact indicators (December 2019) at cluster level is:

KPI Goal Life M3P

clusters results

Waste recovered (ton) 60.350,00 141.253,4
Climate Change (ton CO2-eq) 54.750,00 137.919,6
water consumption (m3) 99.650,00 239.717,4
Resources saved (ton) 84.200,00 197.028,4

This activity runs across other actions and it aims to transfer and apply the M3P model in other industrial area not yet involved in the project.

Local and national actions will be implemented in order to promote replication of the approach during the project by the involved local companies. Furthermore, it is foreseen the promotion and the application of the M3P tool in other European clusters, districts and technological centers.

RESULTS

The communication activities were carried out in parallel and in line with the technical activities. On the basis of the foreseen target groups, the partners organized “customized” events in order to involve them in the activities planned in the project.

Main overall communication results are:

Website (www.lifem3p.eu): about 120visits/month

Leaflet: distributed at about 1,500 recipients;

Issued 41 Newsletters at about total 27,000 recipients;

posts on social media at about total 12,000 recipients

10 video-interviews with more than 300 views

Project presented in more than 15 events, with more than 2,000 attendees

Articles on newspapers: 8 publications for a total copies: 13,300

Layman’s Report: about 300 distributed. Download the Layman’s Report

Video: 2 versions: Extended Version (6’44’’) and Short Version (3’14’’), about 500 visualizations. See the Video.

Press communications and conferences:-November 2016 in Spain-March 2017 in Italy-May 2018 in Greece.

Final Conference: at ECOMONDO Fair on 7th November 2019, about 150 attendees. See the photos

Local Workshops: 14. Reaching about 350 attendees in total. Italy: March 2017, April 2017, March 2019, November 2019. Belgium: October 2017, November 2019. Greece: September 2017, March 2018, March 2019, December 2019. Spain: January 2018, February 2019, June 2019.

European Workshops: 2. Reaching 75 attendees in total. October 2018 in Slovenia. December 2019 in Romania.

Exhibition (international event): ECOMONDO Fair (Rimini –5th to 8th November 2019),by sharing a wide stand with other 7 European projects

This is the key action of the project because the on-line “Material Match Making Platform” will allow SMEs of each local network to know and find new market possibility for their scraps/waste or to find alternative to the used raw materials. The platform will be a software tool able to support, study, and inquiry activities of waste and help to develop new material concepts and applications, based on Life Cycle Analysis and environmental footprint.

The on-line M3P platform will be the basis on which the local networks will grow and companies will interact. The final objective of the on-line M3P Platform, thanks to its functionalities and the material database, is a “digital ecosystem” fostering the self-feeding of the local networks and enabling the industrial symbiosis and the circular economy.

RESULTS

The Life M3P platform (β-prototype version) has been operational in March 2018 and open to all users. On June 2018 a stable release of the platform has been delivered and since September 2018 M3P platform can be considered in a fully functional version.

The M3P Platform is fully functional at the official project website (www.lifem3p.eu) and direct link (http://www.materialmatch.eu), with increasing access.

Over 350 registered users with a growth of almost 45% in a year and a half, 250 companies from various sectors, over 380 registered industrial waste. These are the first numbers of the M3P platform and which provides to say “There’ Life after waste“.

The platform is a web-based application at the service of companies that intend to give new life to their waste or who are looking for secondary raw materials. One of the problems encountered, in fact, is that a company generally does not have access to information and technologies from other sectors and that industrial waste is not immediately reused and inserted directly into other industrial processes. The M3P platform is the place where materials (waste but not only) and technologies meet and create new value (environment, social and economic) for secondary raw materials. 
For this purpose, the partners studied the business model the Life M3P platform will operate with. Some of them are interested in continuing to use the M3P Platform to offer advanced services to businesses, for that they decided to register both the logo and the brand “M3P Material Match Making Platform”.

In this action the point is to investigate the potentiality of the offered waste stream from a design and creative perspective. The action will be executed in parallel in the 4 local network areas of the partners’ regions and it aims to develop new product concepts and prototypes using waste and materials previously studied by the involvement of young designers. Furthermore each partner of the local pilot areas will develop a full study (required investment, infrastructures, requirements etc.) of the new possible businesses in order to foster the starting development process of startups (referring to the local specific program, if any, to support start-ups).

RESULTS

Three design schools of Milan –namely Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA), Istituto Europeo di Design (IED),  and Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi) – signed agreements in order to work togheter the partner MCI for the development of cretive concepts.

In total 165 young designers have been involved. 48 waste materials have been identified, of which 26 wastes were applied in a total of 190 design concepts suggesting an innovative use, exceeding the planned minimum number (at least 72 design concepts). 18 concepts have been selected by the consortium partners for producing prototypes that translated the design concepts developed by the involved young designers into physical objects produced to demonstrate feasibility and business potentials of applying wastes as secondary raw materials:

•Italy: 7

•Belgium: 4

•Spain: 4

•Greece: 3

For more information download the Layman’s Report or the DD1-8 Electronic Final Report_v1 that contains the description of the creative concepts.

This action aims to assess the socio-economic impact of the LIFE M3P project on the local economy and population. In particular, this action will evaluate the improvement achieved at local level and especially the new opportunities for the companies and for the stakeholders operating in the clusters involved in the project.

RESULTS

The partners carried out a brief survey of each regional Socio-Economic Context . Each regional report focuses on demographic aspects, labour market and entrepreneurial system, added value and wealth, infrastructure.
According to the defined Operational Tool, four social-economic assessments of the project have been carried out on December 2017, July 2018, April 2019 and September 2019 at the end of the project, where, in particular, the impact of pilot cases has been analysed.
Download the table of impact indicators results: Table of Social Impact Results

The aim of this action is to give sustainability to LIFE M3P after the end of the project. Taking in accountthe analysis carried out and the results achieved in the previous actions, a future scenario may be outlined.The exploitation of the Material Match Making Platform M3P and the sustainability of the industrial symbiosiswill be pursued.

RESULTS

The success of the Platform in the afterlife of the project will depend largely on its ability to interact with local industry and on the impact that recycling will have on each company. The M3P Platform can help companies overcome the difficulties of lack of expertise (problematic weighs less in Italy, but touches 30% in Spain) and Complex administrative or legal procedures (first problematic at EU average level with peaks of 38% in Belgium and Italy and 36% in Greece). The secondary raw materialsrepresent an interesting European market that can grow and has already shown an upward trend in some countries.

Environmental, social and economic assessments  demonstrated the usefulness and effectiveness of the approach developed in the LIFE M3P project. So that most of the partners decided to continue developing the platform and promoting its application.
As a first step they have decided to register the brand and logo and are considering other concrete development steps, including the establishment of an ad hoc company. The aim of this company is  to offer advanced services through the M3P Platform, by developing new applications, for instance by implementing artificial intelligence functions within the platform engine and actions that pass from the one-to-one approach to collective applications, e.g. cluster by sector and multi-sectoral industrial district by geographic area.

The scope is to exploit the  M3P Platform as a ”digitalized one-stop shop” for industrial symbiosis services characterized by:

Multi-sectorality
Cross-territoriality
Meeting between materials and technologies

It is scalable, flexible and open to other projects:  new functionalities and integration with external sources as specific plugins or platforms