Vytautas Magnus University, in a consortium with 11 other higher education institutions and businesses (led by Fondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia), has secured funding for a four-year Horizon Europe project titled “Flexible robotic solutions for the recycling of soft materials“ (FlexCycle) under the Horizon RIA action (call HORIZON-CL4-2024-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01).
The project will advance the automation of soft material recycling, addressing the challenges of handling elastic waste such as textiles, cables, and fuel cell membranes. By developing adaptive robotic tools and AI-driven material models, FlexCycle aims to efficiently transfer recycling solutions across different soft materials, thereby reducing system implementation costs and promoting sustainability in line with the European Green Deal.
The VMU team, led by V. Kavolis Transdisciplinary Research Institute senior researcher Prof. Dr. Renata Legenzova, together with researchers from Faculty of Economics and Management Assoc. Prof. Dr. Akvilė Aleksandravičienė and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jonė Kalendienė will play a key role in assessing the socio-economic and environmental impact of soft material recycling automation, contributing to the expansion of transdisciplinary scientific activities at Vytautas Magnus University.
Photo by Jack Church on Unsplash
