Secured funding for the Horizon Europe project FlexCycle
The VDU research team, in a consortium with 11 other higher education institutions and businesses (led by Fondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia), has secured funding for a four-year Horizon Europe project titled “Flexible robotic solutions for the recycling of soft materials“ (FlexCycle) under the Horizon RIA action (call HORIZON-CL4-2024-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01). The project will advance the automation of soft material recycling, addressing the challenges of handling elastic waste such as textiles, cables, and fuel cell membranes. By developing adaptive robotic tools and AI-driven material models, FlexCycle aims to efficiently transfer recycling solutions across different soft materials, thereby reducing system implementation costs and promoting sustainability in line with the European Green Deal.
The VDU Faculty of Economics and Management team, led by prof. Renata Legenzova with the participation of assoc. prof. Akvilė Aleksandravičienė and assoc. prof. Jonė Kalendienė, will play a key role in assessing the socio-economic and environmental impact of soft material recycling automation contributing to the expansion of transdisciplinary scientific activities at our university.
