The long-term goal of the project is to increase the collection and treatment of laminated glass, improve the separation of glass and polyvinyl butyral (PVB) and thus increase the fractions and quality of PVB for reuse. To this end, a recycling process for polyvinyl butyral (PVB) from laminated glass was developed to market maturity as part of the SUNRISE project, in which the PVB input is sorted according to optical quality and composition. This enables a standardised quality of the recycled PVB (rPVB) so that it can be used again for laminated glass, photovoltaic applications, carpet production, removable coatings and in batteries. See also the SUNRISE video on You Tube: SUNRISE-Video 

As part of the project, two pilot plants were equipped with an innovative multi-sensor sorting system based on industrial inline techniques (Raman, IR, fluorescence and optical spectroscopy) and using optimised, customised hardware and AI algorithms that enable optimal classification of the laminated glass according to composition and ageing. An innovative mechanical process is then used to separate and clean the PVB from the glass without degrading the polymer. The rPVB can be made available as flakes, dispersion and pellets for reuse.

DIN was responsible for the standardisation activities within the consortium. In particular, this included the following work packages: the creation of an overview of the standards relevant to SUNRISE, the development of a standardisation strategy as part of the SUNRISE project with analysis of the standardisation potential, the determination of the need for new or adapted standards/specifications and the development of a CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) with the consortium partners and other interested experts.

The resulting CWA 18174, Plastics - Recycled plastics - Characterisation of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) recyclates was published in January 2025 and can be downloaded free of charge from the CEN-CENELEC website (https://www.cencenelec.eu/get-involved/research-and-innovation/horizon-europe-projects/cwa-download-area).

Project website: SUNRISE-Webseite

Project duration

June 2021 – November 2024 (42 months)

Project partners

• L'UREDERRA, FUNDACION PARA EL DESARROLLO TECNOLOGICO Y SOCIAL (Spain – Project coordination)
• FUNDACIÓ INSTITUT DE RECERCA EN ENERGIA DE CATALUNYA (Spain)
• INGENIERIA NAVARRA MECANICA SL (Spain)
• DENUO VZW/ASBL (Belgium)
• MINERALI INDUSTRIALI SRL (Italy)
• DISMECO SRL (Italy)
• BIO-MI DRUSTVO S OGRANICENOM ODGOVORNOSCU ZA PROIZVODNJU, ISTRAZIVANJEI RAZVOJ (Croatia)
• NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS (Greece)
• NEXT TECHNOLOGY TECNOTESSILE SOCIETA NAZIONALE DI RICERCA R L (Italy)
• ARIÑO DUGLASS, S.A. (Spain)
• UAB MODERNIOS E-TECHNOLOGIJOS (Lithuania)
• HEVADEX (Belgium)
• RADICI PIETRO INDUSTRIES & BRANDS SPA (Italy)
• IDENER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AGRUPACION DE INTERES ECONOMICO (Spain)
• POLITECNICO DI TORINO (Italy)
• AMTE Power PLC (United Kingdom)
• LENZ INSTRUMENTS SL (Spain)
• DIN DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FUER NORMUNG E.V. (Germany)
• WARRANT HUB SPA (Italy)
• FUNDACION CENTRO TECNOLOGICO DE INVESTIGACION MULTISECTORIAL (Spain)

Projektfunding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 958243.