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Embracing innovation and paving the way towards a greener future – that’s what unfolded during our virtual event on “Skills guiding the green transition of the plating industry”. On June 7, during the EU Green Week 2023, four EU-funded projects, industrial stakeholders, experts and enthusiasts gathered in a 3-hour online event to explore the vital role of skills in revolutionizing the plating industry for a sustainable tomorrow. The event was co-organized by the EU-funded FreeMe and MOZART projects, and hosted by the Exelisis, a consultancy company undertaking the dissemination management of the FreeMe project.
Watch the recorded event in the FreeMe YouTube Channel HERE
The event started with a presentation of the FreeMe project by our coordinator, Alessio Carminati from Gruppo Gaser. Alessio highlighted the main aspects of the project that focuses on eliminating the use of hexavalent chromium and palladium from the plating on plastics process, based on safe and sustainable by design approaches.
The MOZART project was introduced by Professor Luca Magagnin from Politecnico di Milano. MOZART aims to assist the fulfilment of REACH requirements to eliminate Hard Chromium (HC), a toxic and carcinogenic substance, offering an environmentally less harmful and less toxic alternative to the painting and coating industry, following the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles.
Dr. Alexandros Zoikis Karathanasis from Creative Nano delivered an insightful presentation on the job skills required in the plating industry, while focusing on the European plating industry divided into plating shops and internal plating procedures of large end users.
A common aspect of the above-mentioned topics, as well as a vital goal of the European Commission was presented by Mario Santiago Herrera from ICCRAM-University of Burgos, who explored the Safe and Sustainable by Design Approach outlined in the topic of the EU-funded projects involved.
Dr. Kostas Pyrgakis from Exelisis guided us through the importance, structure and development of Decision Support Tools, a task that Exelisis is undertaking in the FreeMe project, combining important aspects such as SSbD, LCA and experimental data, to deliver a complete tool to the plating industry.
The event continued with the presentation of our cluster projects, NICKEFFECT and NOUVEAU, both funded under the same topic examining different approaches. Dr. Aliona Nicolenco from CIDETEC Surface Engineering delivered a presentation of the NICKEFFECT project, that deals with the development of novel ferromagnetic Ni-based coating materials, aiming to replace the scarce and costly Platinum and ensure high efficiency in key applications such as renewable energy (water electrolysis to produce hydrogen), electric mobility (fuel cells) and digital technologies.
The NOUVEAU project was introduced by Dr. Marijke Jabocs from VITO. Focusing on the development of solid oxide cells (SOCs) using innovative La- and PMG-free electrode materials, solid electrolyte, and interconnects, NOUVEAU aims to reduce the amount of rare earth elements (REEs) used in the SOCs by 30% and to use recycled Yt and Cr.
In the last presentation, our invited speaker Mr. Hermann Autenrieth from Robert BOSCH delivered an insightful presentation on the Digital Twin in metal material manufacturing for the Green Transition, which fuelled a discussion on the importance of digital twins and their potential integration into Decision Support Tools.
To summarize the key take-aways of this event, the European plating industry is mainly divided into plating shops and in-house plating of big industrial players. Achieving innovative solutions is challenging for both cases, and this highlights the importance and great impact anticipated by the EU-funded research and innovative projects that target innovation and bring together experts in different fields. The four cluster projects present a great opportunity for innovation, contributing to the green transition and adopting the safe and sustainable by design approach.
If you missed the chance to attend this event and join the discussion, make sure you watch the event recording.
Watch the recorded event in the FreeMe YouTube Channel HERE
