PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Every year in Europe, around 600,000 consumers replace their very damaged ski boots.
The ski boots market is rather stable in Europe and in a business-as-usual scenario, none of the end-of-life ski boots are expected to be recycled. As a consequence about 2,100 tons of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polypropylene (PP), 300 tons of metals (iron and aluminum) and 600 tons of expanded plastics (foams and fabrics) are landfilled yearly. In addition, 16,000 tons/year of CO2 are released to the atmosphere.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the LIFE RecycleYourBoots project is to close the loop between dismantled ski boots (now disposed of through landfills) and recycled plastic products by regenerating polymers for a new market niche. This will be achieved by setting up a demonstration cross-industry system to recover, separate and recycle ski boots in Italy, Austria, France and Germany, the main European markets for this type of product. In particular, the RecycleYourBoots project aims at overcoming existing market barriers for the recycling of plastics from end-of-life ski boots to ensure a constant feedstock for industry.
The project is in line with the European Green Deal roadmap to sustainable economies (COM/2019/640 final). Furthermore it contributes to the Landfill Directive (2018/850), the Waste Framework Directive (2018/851) and the European Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy (COM/2018/028).
RESULTS
Expected results:
- Thanks to the support of a digital platform, 1,500 shops in 4 European countries (Italy, Germany, France and Austria) will become hubs for the collection of end-of-life ski boots;
- Creation of national awareness raising campaigns for consumers on the importance of the recycling of ski boots;
- Installation and validation of a prototypal plant in the premises of the associated beneficiary Laprimaplastics (Vicenza, Italy) for disassembling, washing, shredding and dedusting the plastic materials to be recycled;
- Development of a small-scale system, based on grinding and separation technologies, for the recycling of the inner shoe components (foams and fabrics) of ski boots;
- Recycling of 30,000 ski boots through a specific pre-treatment and separation protocol in order to supply the plastic industry with high quality feedstock;
- Development of a business model in order to promote the use of plastic waste materials in the industrial sector for sports equipment.
Expected environmental results:
- Greenhouse gases: reduction of CO2 emissions by 688 tons/year and methane by 5.43 tons/year;
- Air quality: reduction of NOx by 1.45 tons/year, PM10 by 0.19 tons/year and PM2.5 by 0.30 tons/year;
- Waste management: recycling of 109.5 tons of end-of-waste plastic by project end;
- Raw materials: recovery of 10.8 tons/year of aluminum and 199 tons/year of crude oil;
- Energy consumption: reduction by 5,375 kWh/year.
