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Business and innovation area: Material transition

Of the world's materials, only 8.6 percent are currently circular, while CO2 emissions must be significantly reduced. The business and innovation area Material transition offers expertise and test beds in circular business models, life cycle analysis, material development, material ecosystems and future material production – with the goal of creating sustainable and competitive use of materials and a radically more circular economy.

Most companies need materials, to use the right materials and design their products and services to maximise the benefit and value of the materials used. In order to reduce the climate impact and depletion of the earth's resources, both Sweden and the rest of the world must switch to sustainable materials and circular production processes and business models. 

The business and innovation area of Material Transition aims to preserve and develop Sweden's leading position in materials-use from an economic value-creation and environmental perspective and to build knowledge and jobs for the future with Sweden as a base.

The business area focuses on three areas:

Circular transition

At RISE, we see circular economy as a necessary and powerful engine for innovation. We develop knowledge and tools to support Swedish business and society to move from vision to action. The focus is on measurements, traceability, tools and profitable new business models for a circular economy.

Read more about circular economy
Contact: Josefina Sallén

Future material production

The production of materials, new and recycled, is often resource-intensive and also affects future possibilities to re-use, upcycle or recycle the materials. Future material production concerns the development of new, green, durable and recyclable materials, as well as supporting existing material production to a transition towards more circular processes. 

Read more about production and manufacturing
Contact: Anders Holmkvist

Material ecosystems

The focus area of Material ecosystems works towards increased recycling and upcycling where the value of material resources can be increased several times of a longer lifetime. This is a prerequisite for increased circularity. The way forward will require changes in collection, recycling and how we create new markets for materials, through more product cycles than one. 

Read more about material transition.
Contact: Carl Jensen

Traceable and quality-assured circular materials

Future materials must be transparent and traceable, as it is a prerequisite for efforts made in the entire value chain related to resource efficiency and circularity. Circulated materials must also be quality assured. This area focuses on traceability and quality assurance, i.e. in relation to regulations, standards, techniques and information flows.

Contact: Hanna Lindén