PLANETS stands for “Plasticizers, fLame-retardants and surfactANts: new alternatives validating the safE and susTainable by deSign approach” and is funded under the Topic HORIZON-CL4-2024-RESILIENCE-01-24.
The consortium will receive 14.5 million euros from the European Union’s research and innovation program to demonstrate the applicability of the SSbD Draft Framework published by the JRC while developing technical alternatives for 3 of the most important classes of molecules in chemical industries: plasticizers, flame retardants and surfactants.
The new molecules and products developed by PLANETS will be significantly safer for workers and consumers and will have considerably lower environmental impact, while ensuring economic viability and social awareness.
This ambitious project, coordinated by Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), which hosted the Kick-Off Meeting, brings together 18 complementary partners from 7 countries, including 7 large industry partners (BASF, Chemische Fabrik Budenheim KG, ELKEM Silicones, Greenchemicals Srl, Steinbacher Dämmstoff GmbH, SYENSQO, Wacker Chemie AG), 3 SMEs (RINA Consulting, STERNE, QSAR Lab), 5 RTOs (AIMEN Technology Center, CEA, TNO, IPC, Fraunhofer ICT) and 3 non-profit research organizations (BioNanoNet Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Radboud University). These partners bring the expertise required for the entire project development, including:
- Development of safer and more sustainable alternatives through SSbD assessments in a tiered approach
- Demonstration of the integration of the new molecules for manufacturing new products for various applications (coating, insulation foams and childcare articles)
- Social sciences and humanities
- Business plans and market uptake approaches
- Digital Product Passport
- Identification of new skills and training
- Interactions with stakeholders and citizens and feedback to the JRC and the EC.
PLANETS aims to pave the way for the adoption of the SSbD framework while proposing a roadmap toward industrialization and market uptake of the alternative solutions.
Fraunhofer ICT leads work package 4 “SSbD Alternatives for Flame Retardant Application”: Several classes of flame retardants and flame retardant formulations will be chemically optimized, tested, upscaled and used as flame retardant alternatives for extruded polyethylene foam (XPE), polystyrene bead foam (EPS) and polyurethane rigid foam (PU).
Follow the progress of PLANETS via the website, launching in 2025: https://project-planets.eu/ and the LinkedIn channel.