Third meeting of PolynSPIRE project held with visit to Kordsa

The third meeting of the PolynSPIRE project, in which Kordsa is among the project partners, took place in Istanbul under the hosting of İKMİB and with support from Kordsa. The PolynSPIRE project, which is part of the European Union-supported Horizon 2020 programme and held its General Project Meeting and Information Sharing Workshop at Kordsa's Izmit facility in May, is planned to produce a total of 3 different innovations covering TRL7 level within a 48-month timeframe. Kordsa, which operates in the tyres and construction reinforcement as well as composite technologies sectors, joined the PolynSPIRE project in 2018 within the framework of the European Union-supported Horizon 2020 programme under an open innovation approach, aiming to provide innovative technologies for plastic recycling. The project aims to strengthen Europe's research and technology development capacity, encourage and develop university-industry cooperation. The meeting held in Istanbul between 2-4 October was attended by 22 project partners from 11 countries, including major players in the European chemical sector such as Arkema, Novamont and Repsol. In preparing for the meeting, Kordsa carried out joint work with host İKMİB. On the final day of the three-day event, Kordsa's Izmit facility was visited. Over the 48-month period, the PolynSPIRE project is expected to achieve recycling of 60 kilotons of plastic waste, reduce CO₂ emissions by 300 kilotons equivalent and conserve 70 kilotons equivalent of fossil fuels. The targeted impacts within 20 years are the processing of 4.5 million tons of waste annually, reduction of CO₂ emissions by 45 million tons equivalent and conservation of 10 million tons equivalent of fossil fuels. The project's opening meeting was held on 25 September 2018 in Brussels at KoWi, the European liaison office of German research companies. İKMİB took on the organization of the second meeting, which was held over 2 days in May at Kordsa's Izmit facility with Kordsa as host.