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[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”3.12.2″ author=”Marnix van Gurp” job_title=”Managing director” company_name=”Brightlands Materials Center” quote_icon_background_color=”#f5f5f5″ text_orientation=”center” animation_style=”flip” animation_direction=”top” saved_tabs=”all”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.2″]<\/p>\n It’s everywhere<\/strong> [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.2″]<\/p>\n The process can always be more sustainable At the Brightlands Materials Center, they are trying to reduce that footprint by working on lighter materials for the car industry. Van Gurp: \u201cElectrical driving will be the norm in a couple of years. The heavyweight of cars makes them less economical. By making the materials that are processed in cars lighter, you automatically reduce the impact on the environment. The material should obviously be just as strong, if not stronger. But in that, we\u2019re also looking at the process. Durability is also about producing locally and reducing waste. Or processing waste flows into new products.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.2″ border_color_all=”#b7b7b7″ animation_style=”fold” background_color=”#f5f5f5″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|” saved_tabs=”all” custom_css_main_element=”padding:3%;”]<\/p>\n Lightweight Automotive<\/strong><\/a> [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.12.2″ src=”https:\/\/archive.ioplus.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/photostique-brightlands-morres-076-2.jpg” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.2″]<\/p>\n The car industry still uses a lot of materials which are difficult to recycle. In the testing ground\u00a0<\/span>Thermoplastics Composites,\u00a0<\/a>Brightlands Materials Center is working on materials that are more suitable for re-use, along with companies from the south of the Netherlands. The project is financed by Op-Zuid, the province of Limburg and the participating companies. Van Gurp: \u201cA lot of composites are difficult to recycle, not only in the car industry. That also counts for fibreglass boats, hardened with synthetic resin, and the blades of windmills. Unlike composites, thermoplastics melt upon heating, which makes it easier to reuse them. The goal of the project is to replace metal in the car industry, but also to develop high-quality materials from residual materials.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Text continues after the video.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/archive.ioplus.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/MarnixvanGurp-150x94-2.jpg\")
But that is exactly what the team at Brightlands Materials Center<\/a>, an initiative of TNO<\/a> and the Provence of Limburg<\/a>, is concerned with. In an old building at Brightlands Chemelot Campus<\/a> in Geleen, the R&D team is looking for ways to change applications of plastic. The goal: making the plastics industry more sustainable. Along with Peter Wolfs, Marnix van Gurp is the manager of this development center. As he walks through the outdated hallways, he shows all that is happening to \u2018reinvent\u2019 plastic. He and his team will soon move to a new building on the campus. <\/span><\/p>\n“We are really going to be in trouble when it comes to the recyclability of all those different materials.<\/h2>\n
\n<\/b>That \u2018reinvention\u2019 is highly necessary, he finds, because the way it is going now can\u2019t go on any longer. Van Gurp: \u201cThe range of different plastics is incredibly wide. There are dozens of sorts with additives for colour, strength and other user requirements. Plastic for inside, for outside. It shouldn\u2019t catch fire or it has to be flexible, for each application, there\u2019s a type of plastic. It\u2019s everywhere; in bottles, toys, packaging and clothes. In this, we as a society have completely gone mad\u201d, this visibly annoys Van Gurp. Gesticulating, he continues: \u201cFor years now, we have been looking for a solution for the increasing problem with plastics, so far with limited success. We are really going to be in trouble when it comes to the recyclability of all those different materials.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Not only the recycling of materials has priority according to van Gurp: \u201cA lot of the plastic waste now ends up in the sea or it goes to an incinerator, which emits a lot of CO2. We are looking for circular solutions in which materials should leave the lowest possible footprint on the environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\nBrightlands Materials Center focuses on materials and solutions for three different themes and industries. Additive manufacturing, Lightweight Automotive and Sustainable Buildings. For this, they are working on several projects along with universities, knowledge institutions and companies. In the Lightweight Automotive program, it\u2019s all about developing light materials that make sure that vehicles drive more economically. But also about better production methods in which less waste is produced and about materials that are designed in such a way that they are easier to reuse. In 2019, there will be a showcase in the new building where new techniques and materials can be seen.<\/p>\n