The EU is more and more promoting a transition toward a “circular” flow in the economic system. The transition is needed because it tackles two main problems that affects the union: unemployment and environmental challenges. Unemployment is still major issue for EU nowadays and likely will be in the following years as the rate of economic growth still lags behind and while most of the environmental target in Europe 2020 are close to be achieved, a well documented need for knowledge , abilities, values and attitudes are still needed to create a proper equilibrium between society, the economic system and the necessity of reducing the impact of human activity on the environment. The ESSENCE project aimed at covering the gap in those fields primarily by empowering the trainers of future entrepreneurs but also enhancing the knowledge of policy makers by supplying counseling material for policy-makers inspiring them to enable better conditions to change production, transport and market paradigms.The project has reached different category of persons, in particular professionals coming from, green enterprises, startup incubators and accelerators, universities and research centers, VET and Higher education suppliers, Development agencies for an total of approximately 400 participants reached by the project. Main project activities were related to the production of four thematic intellectual outputs. 1) The design and development of a Smart trend Map of circular economy startups creation in Europe with a focus on waste business (IO1). 19 cases from all over Europe have been included in the Smart Map. 2) The design and development of a conceptual Mindmap of best practices and open access material on Circular Economy entrepreneurship, focusing on startups cases (IO2). The Mindmap includes over 170 references. 3)The elaboration and development of a toolkit of training materials to help Startup trainers/ Entrepreneurial Coaches supporting new entrepreneurs in the field of CE with a focus on waste business opportunities (IO3). The platform is available online in 6 languages (English, Danish, Italian, Greek, Spanish, French). 4) Data collection and development of a Policy Library to gather policy advices from partners and stakeholders to the benefit of policy makers and stakeholders (IO4). 32 documents representing local, national and international policies have been included in the Library.The project organized as well a LTTA, with 18 participants representing of the different target categories, and 3 multiplier events (Spain, Greece, Denmark) to disseminate project results and further involve stakeholders from the different countries. The partnership behind the project was formed by the different types of partners, which applied a collaborative methodology emphasizing each partners' specificity. Scientific partners have collaborated closely to ensure that the scientific content has been of high quality and the teaching material was accessible - yet challenging - at the same time. Representative institutions have exploited their network to gather all the needed data to fulfill the creation of IOs and to properly disseminate the project. Incubators and entrepreneurial institutions have both supported the creation of outputs exploiting their internal competences and gathered the attention of practitioners and professionals in the startup world. The projects aimed at having a long term impact by giving trainers the ability to increase their knowledge and affecting positively on many different generations of entrepreneurs. All the teaching materials are online available for every professional to use, igniting a virtuous loop of knowledge in the Circular Economy environment, supported by the contemporary improvement of policy maker knowledge expected through the use of the policy library tool. Both of these project results have been designed to have an impact measured over time (future entrepreneurs, future decision makers about CE regulations) through the empowerment of knowledge base and training personnel.

XTRACT seeks to introduce the novel concept of the Zero Emission Mine of the Future, introducing innovative technologies for sustainable and decarbonised extraction. The XTRACT technological pathways to a lower mining emission future are addressing well-identified emission intensive points of the current mining value chain. XTRACT will add a highly innovative new alternative to the toolbox of how stockpiles and tailings are assessed, relieving the pressure on resources and contributing to the realization of EU Climate Neutrality Goals, with a significant benefit of emission reduction. XTRACT will scale remote sensing systems and analytical resources to allow the systematic and remote monitoring of “hard-to-access” mining sites and waste deposits. XTRACT targets the reduction of ore losses and mining waste, through a novel system for the control of the ore loss and dilution, reducing overall mine emissions and economic loss. The trend towards declining orebody grades and continued development of the pursuit of existing operation to exploit lower grade deposits is likely to continue, in the absence of high-grade project discovery. XTRACT will develop and validate innovative microinvasive technologies and solutions to extract high-tech elements from minerals and wastes, specifically tailored to remote, “hard-to-reach” locations and small quantities, where extraction is unprofitable. The in-situ bioleaching process and membrane treatment will be applied and optimized with the aim to achieve enhanced microbial activity, catalyst production, and therefore, maximum metal recovery from the source. XTRACT will introduce low-TRL green technologies of phytoextraction and phytoremediation, particularly appropriate for mining waste piles and abandoned sites, that represent a solution for mine waste remediation but also for the extraction and recovery of various precious metals. XTRACT will be validated in 5 case studies in Germany, Sweden, Portugal and Greece.

Smartfan aims at the micro and Nano components, which will be used due to their special physico-chemical properties, in order to develop smart (bulk) materials for final application on intelligent structures. CFs for reinforcement and conductivity variance, CNTs and CNFs for sensing, Micro-containers for self-healing, Electro-Magnetic nanoparticles for fields detection and shielding, colouring agents for marking cracks and defects, piezoelectric materials can be the base for manufacturing new smart materials. In order to develop lightweight composite materials and transfer the properties of smart components into bulk materials polymer based matrices, such as Epoxy, PEEK, PVDF etc., will be used because of their compatibility with the above mentioned components, their low cost and their recyclability/reusability. During synthesis of composite bulk materials several processes should take place in order to preserve the special physico-chemical properties of composites and to achieve the best dispersion in the bulk.

The project aims at the development of innovative reclamation and repurposing routes for end-of-life plastic and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) components. This will be achieved by employing advanced nanotechnology solutions, Additive Manufacturing (AM) and recycled resources, for the production of high added value 3D printed products with advanced functionalities. In this way, the combination of AM, polymer processing and recycling technologies could constitute a new paradigm of a distributed recycling process, easily implemented at local scale in collaboration with the industrial sector and collection facilities, in order to create competitive, highly customisable products at lower production costs, in a flexible digital environment that fully unravels the potential of eco-design and allows for integration of smart intrinsic self-sensing, self-repairing and recycling options. The project aims to address all aspects and stages of thermoplastic and CF reinforced thermoplastic 3D printing material development from recycled resources, starting with the selection of suitable waste streams, strategies for material repair, compatibilization and upgrade towards AM processing, compatibility between different thermoplastic matrices and the reinforcing fibres and nanoparticles, comparative assessment of various AM thermoplastic processing technologies and closed-loop material optimisation in terms of processability and performance.

MEDLOC aims at the employment of multi-material 3D printing technologies for the large-scale fabrication of microfluidic MEMS for lab-on-a-chip and sensing applications. The concept is based on the combination of multimaterial direct-ink-writing method and an extrusion-based 3D printing pilot line, in order to fabricate microstructured detection devices with the ability to perform all steps of chemical analysis in an automated fashion. The functionality of these devices will be evaluated based on their ability to streamline all steps needed to obtain mobility and binding-based identity information in one continuous biochemical detection system. Optimum in-line control systems will be incorporated in various stages of the fabrication process, to achieve precise control and repeatability. Microfluidic MEMS are increasingly recognized as a unique technology field for the development of biomedical devices (BioMEMS), due to their functional performance on the microscale, at the dimensions of which most physiological processes are operative. Applications near micro- and nanoscale are promising in the field of intelligent biosensors, where it enables the monolithic integration of sensing devices with intelligent functions like molecular detection, signal analysis, electrical stimulation, data transmission, etc., in a single microchip.