A truck for composite recycling: the YouRban project
Bringing advanced recycling of composite materials directly to the places where waste is generated is the goal of YouRban, a European project coordinated by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, which has just been completed.
At the heart of YouRban is a mobile, itinerant truck for the treatment and on-site reprocessing of end-of-life composite materials, particularly fiberglass, which is used in products such as skis and tennis rackets, as well as in automotive components, wind turbine blades and construction materials.
Developed in collaboration with start-up Fibereuse Tech and design studio Origoni&Steiner, the truck adopts a modular and scalable model that can be replicated and customized. It will be able to provide on-demand services to companies, treating waste directly in production districts, support the management of waste from large-scale events, and bring recycling to remote areas as well.
YouRban also has a strong mission of public participation and awareness: the transparent facility allows citizens to see the tangible value of circularity.
The real strength of YouRban was demonstrating that technological innovation can and must move beyond laboratories to engage with people and territories. Seeing first-hand how waste can be transformed into new products allowed citizens to experience the value of the circular economy for themselves.
Marcello Colledani, Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and project coordinator.
The project involved seven partners from Italy, Spain, Austria and Lithuania and was funded by the European Union under the New European Bauhaus programme. The technologies were validated in the field, with the involvement of the Department of Design as well.
The truck will be presented at the Festival Internazionale dell’Ingegneria, organized by Politecnico di Milano at its Leonardo and Bovisa campuses on September 19 and 20.
