A large proportion of the ski helmets sold in Sweden are used by ski resorts around the country and rented out as part of a complete set of ski equipment to the resorts' guests. When the helmets are considered worn out, they are sent for incineration. However, the sports industry, and especially rental-based businesses, are well placed to capitalise on the opportunities of circular business models as they have smooth, defined and easily accessible product flows. By taking a holistic approach to business models, product design, digital condition assessments, material circulation and rental processes, this project investigated the possibilities for more circular flows of ski helmets. 

The first part of the project focused on investigating opportunities to support circular flows by determining the condition of used helmets through digital condition assessments or by recycling helmets. The second part of the project examined the current helmet rental at Skistar's facilities and explored opportunities to increase the lifespan and utilisation rate of helmets and contribute to increased circular flows. A test to determine the impact of a ski helmet designed to facilitate maintenance and repair was conducted together with helmet supplier Disentis. In addition, the project also explored how a concept helmet can be designed to further increase longevity and contribute to circular flows through changing business models and rental processes. 

The project has contributed to increased knowledge of the economic and environmental benefits of different circular opportunities, and provided examples of how helmets can be designed for extended lifetime, circular flows and circular business models.

The healthcare sector is a major consumer of single-use plastic products, a high-quality stream that currently only goes to energy recovery. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 85% of the total waste stream from healthcare is ‘non-hazardous’ and therefore potentially suitable for recycling.

The project aimed to identify business models and product designs with the potential to promote separate collection and recycling of plastic and textiles from the healthcare sector.

Practical collection and recycling trials of polypropylene (PP) were carried out. The collection trial took place in selected departments at Lund University Hospital in Region Skåne. By conducting larger collection trials, the project was able to evaluate actual volumes of risk-free plastic as well as quality assessments of the collected and recycled material, and gather information on the actual costs of separate handling of plastic intended for recycling.

In addition to the collection trial, recycling trials of the collected plastic were conducted, including pre-washing. The recycled plastic was evaluated for which products it could be used for, and a container for sharp objects was manufactured. The evaluation of plastic quality from the recycling trial formed the basis for design proposals for improved recycling. This was done in close collaboration with medtech companies and the region.

Some key findings from the project are that the health care personnel is very good at source sorting (>98% correct) but that there is a lack of space in hospitals for source sorting. There is no actor for post-sorting of this type of product. Recyclers are skeptical about plastic from hospitals because of concerns about contamination and incorrect sorting of sharp objects. Plastic volumes from healthcare are relatively small to contribute alone to, for example, chemical recycling; they need to be collected with other streams to become large enough. Plastic from healthcare is interesting because it is regulated and therefore does not contain hazardous additives. The quality of the plastic from the collection showed good properties, as only polypropylene was collected, giving the recycled material had a quality comparable to virgin homo-polypropylene of lower grade. The textiles collected were recycled at lab scale, and more process optimization is needed to achieve good textile quality from the recycled material.

The automotive sector is one of the largest users of plastic. Within Europe, the automotive industry consumes about six million tonnes of plastics annually, corresponding to around 10% of the total plastic use in Europe. Plastics account for about 10–18% of the weight of modern cars (180-220 kg) and up to half of their component volume. Plastics are used in a wide range of applications from interior parts to structural and functional components. Consequently, substantial volumes of the automotive plastics reaches end of life each year. Despite high recycling rates for end‑of‑life vehicles (ELVs), recycling is still dominated by metals. Plastics are largely incorporated into the shredder light fraction after the car fragmentation and are commonly directed to energy recovery rather than material recycling.  

The new End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulation approved by the European Parliament in June 2026 mandates increasing use of recycled plastics in new cars, reaching 25% within ten years, with at least 20% originating from end-of-life vehicles. In addition, the recycling target for the plastics in ELV cars is 30%. This creates a strong need for circular solutions across the automotive value chain. The ELV regulation includes also trucks, buses and motorcycles. The CIRCUS project contributes to Sweden’s efforts to meet the requirements in the ELV Regulation.

CIRCUS II is funded by Vinnova within the FFI program Circularity and runs from June 2026 to June 2029. The project brings together 11 partners across the automotive value chain and RISE, as FoU partner and coordinator of the project. 

The project covers dismantling, cleaning and sorting of plastic components, washing and pretreatment, material upgrading, pilot production of new automotive components containing recycled ELV plastics, validation, development of circular design principles for components, and system-level analyses of business models, logistics, costs and environmental impacts. The overall objective is to enable large-scale use of recycled ELV plastics in new vehicles and support compliance with the forthcoming EU ELV Regulation.

The construction industry is the second largest user of plastic, about 40% of all plastic produced. In Sweden, this corresponds to about 262,000 tonnes per year.  Although the plastic must be sorted separately at the construction site by law (since 2020), only 1,5% of the material is recycled, most of which goes to incineration. 

There it is a great need to increase the recycling of plastics in the construction sector and to use the plastic back into the construction sektor. Sorting out installation waste at construction sites is the best way to get back a high quality plastic for recycling back into same or similar construction products. However product standards and quality certificates often hinder use of recycled plastic even if the quality is high. Therefor we need to show that recycled plastic of the right quality fulfills the product demands and could be used in certified construction products.

Purpose and goal of the project: 

The project will develop certified pipes and bitumen roofs.

• New proposals for procurement criteria favouring construction products with a share of recycled plastics.

• Approved construction products from the project are implemented in construction projects.

• The manufacturers in the project have at least developed one certified product with recycled plastic.

• Results from the project and proposals of certification rules when using recycled plastics are presented to standardization bodies.

In the project, we will, together with the manufacturers of pipes and roof membraned, recyclers and distributors of recycled plastic raw materials, find material streams of suitable quality for long-term applications and stable deliveries over time. The manufacturers produce  products containing recycled plastics and we will test them to ensure that they meet current quality requirements and technical servicelife. 

In the construction industry, large volumes of plastic are used in sealing membranes in buildings as well as in infrastructure projects such as road, railway and tunnel construction. Age-resistant building foil aims to prevent moisture from traveling through building constructions made of wood, which is a common building material in Sweden and the Nordic countries. In both of these applications, large volumes of plastic are used, and by replacing a proportion of the plastic raw material with more recycled plastic, the carbon footprint could be greatly reduced. Since the plastic films and foils are built into constructions and are difficult to replace, the requirements for durability are very high and the products must last 50 years or more.

Uncertainty about how long recycled plastic lasts, as well as variations in the properties of the raw material, have meant that people have not dared to use recycled plastic in products intended for long-term applications. The development and expansion of recycling facilities has increased in recent years and there are high quality recycled plastics available. In previous research projects, we have investigated the durability of products with recycled plastic using accelerated aging with successful results.

In the Re-Membrane project, the project participants will develop and manufacture age-resistant film for buildings and tunnel membranes containing recycled plastic raw material. RISE will then perform accelerated aging and test the products for long-term applications. The purpose is to show whether recycled plastic also works for products that are to be used for a long time. A simplified Life Cycle Analysis will be carried out on the products to assess the environmental benefits of exchanging new raw materials for recycled ones. A survey of the use, occurrence of spills and recycling of geomembranes will also be carried out within the project. In conclusion, we will plan for a continuation project where more stakeholders are invited and the products can be tested in different construction projects.

This course is held in Swedish. Please look at the Swedish site for more information.

Microplastics are directly released into the environment as small plastic particles. These are intentionally particles like synthetic textiles, city dust, tires, road markings, marine coatings, personal care products and engineered plastic pellets. They can be also, result of the degradation of large plastic waste, like plastic bags and bottles, into smaller plastic fragments when exposed to our environment.

We offer:

• development of the correct workflow for each sample, leading to the better particle extraction to link them to likely sources.
• a set of analyzes that include techniques as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX/EDS), optical microscopy coupled to the FTIR/IR Laser Imaging.
• traditional polymer characterization techniques (such as thermal analysis and tensile tests) to detect compare polymer structures before and after fragmentation.
• gravimetric and/or microscopic analysis of fibre microplastics from textile materials including washing 

The project investigates what happens to all the plastic debris that washes ashore on our beaches. The harsh conditions of beaches should favour relatively rapid degradation and fragmentation of larger plastic litter items to microplastics by exposure to UV light, temperature changes and wave action, although the driving forces can vary greatly between locations and seasons.

The aim of this research project is to understand how plastic litter breaks down into microplastics on the beaches, where in the environment the plastic particles end up and how the beach litter affects animals that live in the beach zone and in shallow sea bays. To address this, the project investigates how different plastic litter items planted on beaches break down in the field over time, but also the occurrence of plastics and microplastics on heavily littered beaches on the Swedish west coast. Controlled laboratory experiments simulate how different wave actions, currents and bottom environments affect how plastic debris breaks down and disintegrates, but also how the plastic particles are transported out of the beaches. In addition, the project investigates how the plastic particles are affected by internal processes when passing through the gut of different animals living in the coastal zone. To determine the environmental hazards of beach litter, leaching of harmful plastic additives is investigated, as well as their accumulation in local animals.

The results from the project will contribute to assessing the importance of beach litter as a source of microplastics and the risk they pose. The results can also be used to predict where in the environment the microplastics end up. This is knowledge that is important to be able to make informed decisions in coastal management, e.g. regarding beach cleaning efforts.