Action on circularity is not taken when information and evidence is not available across the life cycle chain. The CircThread project's main objective is to unlock access to data now in silo’s, and enhancing it as decision information for actors across and outside the extended product life cycle. To do this CircThread will deliver a Circular Digital Thread methodology, a framework for facilitating information flow exchanges across the extended life cycle chain of Products, Components, their Materials and Chemicals data, and related Circularity, Environmental, Social and Economic Information. The core is to create data linkages between product chain, value chain, asset chain and life cycle chains based on a Product information Catalogue, and enable information exchanges via data contracts governed by secure and reliable management standards.
The project will implement the system in Cloud Platforms in 3 demonstration clusters in Italy, Slovenia and Spain rolled-out across the entire extended life cycle chain of home appliances (incl. washing machines and dish washers) and home energy systems (incl. boilers, solar-PV systems and batteries) to test 7 circularity use cases and associated business models.
The expected impact for the work programme is to enable improved decision taking accelerating Circularity and Carbon emissions reductions including:
- enhanced life extensions of products by better understanding of in use failures and maintenance needs,
- improved understanding of the quality of end-of-life products for spare parts buy-backs to support right to repair,
- improved assessment of circularity routes by waste management and recycling companies by delivering enhanced product composition data,
- improved materials and chemicals tracing of products and components for safer products and identifying Critical Raw Materials cycles,
- Empowering decisions by citizens and citizen organisations by providing direct access to product performance information.
| Web resources: |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/958448
https://circthread.com/ |
| Start date: | 01-06-2021 |
| End date: | 31-05-2025 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 9 883 198,00 Euro - 7 994 956,00 Euro |
Original description
Action on circularity is not taken when information and evidence is not available across the life cycle chain. The CircThread project's main objective is to unlock access to data now in silo’s, and enhancing it as decision information for actors across and outside the extended product life cycle. To do this CircThread will deliver a Circular Digital Thread methodology, a framework for facilitating information flow exchanges across the extended life cycle chain of Products, Components, their Materials and Chemicals data, and related Circularity, Environmental, Social and Economic Information. The core is to create data linkages between product chain, value chain, asset chain and life cycle chains based on a Product information Catalogue, and enable information exchanges via data contracts governed by secure and reliable management standards. The project will implement the system in Cloud Platforms in 3 demonstration clusters in Italy, Slovenia and Spain rolled-out across the entire extended life cycle chain of home appliances (incl. washing machines and dish washers) and home energy systems (incl. boilers, solar-PV systems and batteries) to test 7 circularity use cases and associated business models. The expected impact for the work programme is to enable improved decision taking accelerating Circularity and Carbon emissions reductions including: i) Enhanced life extensions of products by better understanding of in use failures and maintenance needs, ii) improved understanding of the quality of end-of-life products for spare parts buy-backs to support right to repair, iii) improved assessment of circularity routes by waste management and recycling companies by delivering enhanced product composition data, iv) improved materials and chemicals tracing of products and components for safer products and identifying Critical Raw Materials cycles, v) Empowering decisions by citizens and citizen organisations by providing direct access to product performance information.Status
SIGNEDCall topic
CE-SC5-31-2020Update Date
27-10-2022The CircThread project has carried out several standardization activities including a review of existing standards to gain a comprehensive understanding of current state-of-the-art knowledge and identify any gaps that need to be addressed. Technical committees (TCs) were engaged to access the relevant standards. Identifying standards that have a direct link to the project, including EN 45552 to EN 45558, ISO 26000:2010, IEC 62474, ISO 14040, ISO 14044, the ISO 14020:2016 to ISO 14025:2010 series, and ISO 14051:2011; Establishing liaisons with TCs to facilitate direct information exchange and collaboration.
By providing detailed information about the products, the project will enable a overall life cycle management for electronic devices . The scope of the standardization project must be clearly communicated to all partners involved. This should include information on the expected time and cost investment . It is important that all partners are made aware of their potential contributions to the standardization process, and how beneficial it is to the project. This is particularly important when it comes to developing a pre-standard, such as a CWA, and actively participating in TCs. To disseminate this information, webinars or the wiki pages of National Standards Bodies (NSBs) or SDOs can be used as resources. In many projects, the time available may not be sufficient to develop a full standard. However, it is still possible to create a pre-standard specification, such as a CWA, which can be developed and published within about 10 months. This pre-standard can then be further developed into a full standard at a later date. CWAs help to disseminate the results of the project and should be actively promoted among the consortium partners. Furthermore, working with an SDO or NSB will help to keep the project up to date with current standardization activities and enables project inputs into the standardization community. It is important for the project team to consider the possibility of creating a pre-standard as a way to disseminate the outcome of the project and make it available for the industry to adopt.
The CircThread initiative aims to establish a circular digital thread methodology that grants access to all data pertaining to a product, including information on its components, age, and cost. This allows for the flow of information throughout the entire life cycle of the product, its components, materials, and chemicals. By providing this enhanced information, the project aims to empower individuals and companies involved in the repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling of products to make more informed decisions. The group is working towards creating one or more standardisable solutions and possibly a CWA (Certified Welding Analyst) to provide guidelines for a comprehensive product-related circular digital thread. Presently, products have a shorter lifespan, and the cost of a new product is often cheaper than repair. Furthermore, there is a lack of proper collection and recycling of appliances. The CircThread initiative seeks to utilize existing product-related information to enhance circularity and reduce carbon emissions. At present, much of this information is inaccessible as it is stored by various organizations and individuals across different phases of a product's life cycle. The goal of CircThread is to provide unified access to this information and enable the flow of information throughout the extended life cycle chain of products, their components, materials and chemicals.
From the outset, it was evident to all technology partners and the National Standards Body (NSB) that incorporating existing standards into the new information platform would greatly improve its efficiency and functionality. Furthermore, they would ensure that the information provided is of high quality and is able to interoperate with other technologies already in the market. The variety of use cases for existing standards necessitated the creation of a dedicated standardization work package (WP). Approximately one-third of partners are involved in this WP. It is important to recognize that many existing standards can be used to improve the new information platform, ensure information quality and support interoperability. This is why the project team set up a dedicated Standardization Work Package, with many partners are involved in it.
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| Fundacion CARTIF (Coördinator)
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| AARHUS UNIVERSITET (AU)
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| ALTROCONSUMO EDIZIONI SRL
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| ATOS SPAIN SA
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| BSH ELETTRODOMESTICI SPA
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| CEGASA ENERGIA S.L.U.
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| COMET GLOBAL INNOVATION, SL
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| DOMUSA CALEFACCION SCOOP
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| DSS SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS UK LIMITED
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| Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI)
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| ECOWISE EKODENGE LIMITED
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| EKODENGE MUHENDISLIK MIMARLIK DANISMANLIK TICARET ANONIM SIRKETI
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| ENTE NAZIONALE ITALIANO DI UNIFICAZIONE-UNI (UNI)
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| ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION ON STANDARDS
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| ERION COMPLIANCE ORGANIZATION SCARL
The CircThread project has carried out several standardization activities including a review of existing standards to gain a comprehensive understanding of current state-of-the-art knowledge and identify any gaps that need to be addressed. Technical committees (TCs) were engaged to access the relevant standards. Identifying standards that have a direct link to the project, including EN 45552 to EN 45558, ISO 26000:2010, IEC 62474, ISO 14040, ISO 14044, the ISO 14020:2016 to ISO 14025:2010 series, and ISO 14051:2011; Establishing liaisons with TCs to facilitate direct information exchange and collaboration.
By providing detailed information about the products, the project will enable a overall life cycle management for electronic devices . The scope of the standardization project must be clearly communicated to all partners involved. This should include information on the expected time and cost investment . It is important that all partners are made aware of their potential contributions to the standardization process, and how beneficial it is to the project. This is particularly important when it comes to developing a pre-standard, such as a CWA, and actively participating in TCs. To disseminate this information, webinars or the wiki pages of National Standards Bodies (NSBs) or SDOs can be used as resources. In many projects, the time available may not be sufficient to develop a full standard. However, it is still possible to create a pre-standard specification, such as a CWA, which can be developed and published within about 10 months. This pre-standard can then be further developed into a full standard at a later date. CWAs help to disseminate the results of the project and should be actively promoted among the consortium partners. Furthermore, working with an SDO or NSB will help to keep the project up to date with current standardization activities and enables project inputs into the standardization community. It is important for the project team to consider the possibility of creating a pre-standard as a way to disseminate the outcome of the project and make it available for the industry to adopt.