The transition to the circular economy through the reuse of products requires efficient collection and industrial processing of used products. At the end of its first phase of use, each product has a unique history. Which ones can be refurbished and which ones cannot?

Nowadays, in the automotive aftermarket, large numbers of old parts are already being returned from workshops, industrially refurbished and resold for a further use phase. The used parts must be precisely identified, assessed and sorted according to their condition. This process is mostly manual and is complex. Many product models differ only slightly from each other and are (additionally) difficult to identify due to dirt and wear.

The aim of the EIBA project is to develop a system for identifying and assessing the condition of old parts. The project’s innovative contribution is to enable human-machine collaboration to overcome the obstacles and difficulties involved in identification and sorting of used parts. The Chair of Sustainable Engineering (SEE) at TU Berlin manages the sub-project “Marktakzeptanz und Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung“ (Market Acceptance and Sustainability Assessment) to study the potential socio-ecological effects of this innovation.

Client: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Duration: 09/2019 – 08/2022

Project partner:

• CECO - Circular Economy Solutions GmbH
• Fraunhofer IPK
• acatech – Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften e.V.
• Technische Universität Berlin- Institut für Werkzeugmaschinen und Fabrikbetrieb
• Technische Universität Berlin - Chair of Sustainable Engineering

subjects: Resource efficiency, waste avoidance

More information:
https://innovative-produktkreislaeufe.de/Projekte/EIBA.html

Contact:
M.Sc. Justus Caspers
Tel: +49 (0)30 314-28515
E-mail: j.caspers(at)tu-berlin.de