Clara Bilbao

This year we have started work on 12 new national recruitment projects.

One of these projects has received support from the support programme for Innovation Clusters (ICs) under line 3, digital technology projects.

• TeraMAT2: Development of an open certification platform to ensure the traceability of recycled plastic materials through Blockchain and inspection in the terahertz range.

Funded by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism

Eight projects have received aid from the ELKARTEK 2024 grant programme for collaborative research in strategic areas.

• MOSINCO: Non-contact monitoring of composite materials from manufacture to end of life. Coordinated by GAIKER
• BG24: Exploration and characterisation of molecular factors in cancer and their innovative applications in precision cancer treatments.
• BMG24: Collaborative research on biomarkers and alternative methods of diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of fibrosis-related pulmonary hypertension.
• EnHarPE: New energy harvesting systems for self-powered low-power devices using printed solutions and sustainable materials.
• 3DGREEN: Sustainable functional materials from recycled sources for 3D printing for the electronics sector
• ADDICOMP: Mass Production Digital Composites. Additive manufacturing technologies for highly structural composites.
• TERCOMAT: Research on the hybridisation of plastics with steel.
• CirIAMet: Intelligent technologies to drive the circularity of metals in new generations from vehicles no longer in use

Funded by the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government

One of the projects has received support from the 2024 Technology Transfer programme
• COMPLESOLV: Implementation of the circular economy for complex plastic materials through the development and application of solvolysis and dissolution processes.

Funded by Bizkaia Provincial Council as part of the 2024 Technology Transfer Programme.

Another of the projects has received support from the 2024 Innovation Ecosystem Support Programme
• CÍCLiCOM: Innovation ecosystem for the circularity of composite materials and complex plastics. Coordinated by GAIKER

The latter has received support from the TransMissions 2024 Programme
• CICLO: Cooperation and research on circularity in the wind industry. Coordinated by GAIKER.

Subsidised by the CDTI

Meanwhile, as far as international recruitment projects are concerned: In 2024 we received support from the European Union under the HORIZON EUROPE programme to implement 4 new recruitment projects, of which we are leading two:

• BIOSAFIRE: Development and manufacture of new, more sustainable and safer materials using biobased functionalised additives based on lingin and tannins to improve fire resistance. Coordinated by GAIKER
• E-OILE: Sustainable End-of-life routes for Single-use monodose packaging for oily products. Coordinado por GAIKER
• DESIDERATA: Integrated Pathways: Advancing Safe and Sustainable by Design Material Innovation through Collaborative Wisdom
• PAIRAMID: AI-based testing pyramid towards virtual certification of next-gen composite aerostructures

Funded by the European Union

Finally, we have received aid to acquire research infrastructures and equipment from AZPITEK (Acquisition of Research Infrastructures Aid Programme) and the Technology Transfer 2024 programme (Line 2. Grants for providing research infrastructures and for testing and experimentation)

Azpitek 2024 Programme:
• DATPOL: Multimodal characterisation platform for generating data and digitalising materials and polymer transformation processes
• TERATEK: Terahertz spectroscopy to investigate technologies related to the smart identification and advanced characterisation of waste and plastic materials and to activate the circular economy in recycling and processing

Funded by the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government

Technology Transfer Programme 2024
• Infrastructure for characterising and evaluating the bio-reactivity of new nano and microparticulate materials on human physiological barriers
• COMPLESOLV: Implementation of the circular economy for complex plastic materials by developing and applying solvolysis and dissolution processes

Funded by Bizkaia Provincial Council as part of the Technology Transfer 2024 Programme

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

The GAIKER Technology Centre and the Formula Student Bizkaia team have signed an agreement aimed at fostering training, talent and employability.

GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), and the Formula Student Bizkaia team have signed a collaboration agreement aimed at fostering the training, talent and employability of students through active teaching methodologies, mainly by means of project-based learning.

This agreement will make GAIKER one of the partners, technical advisers and trainers of Formula Student Bizkaia. It will provide them with material, tests, advice and facilities to help them take part in the Formula Student competitions that are held throughout Europe.

The agreement was signed by Santiago Rementeria (General Manager) on behalf of GAIKER, and by Javier Corral (Faculty Advisor) on behalf of Formula Student Bizkaia, on November 20 and will be valid for one year.

Formula Student Bizkaia

The Formula Student Bizkaia project is a non-profit educational project under the auspices of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and the Bilbao School of Engineering. It is aimed at learning in various areas of engineering by designing and manufacturing single-seater Formula racing cars and competing with European universities.

This project is aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and has been recognised by the Basque Innovation Agency (Innobasque) with the STEAM seal for promoting and fostering vocations.

At GAIKER, we get an integrated, holistic view of the sustainability of a process, product or service through the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA)
Our tools:

• Ad hoc tools in Excel format
• Software: SimaPro, Sphera LCA for Experts, OpenLCA, etc.
• Databases: Ecoinvent, Sphera, Environmental Footprint, PSILCA, etc.

We also apply the LCA methodology to carrying out environmental assessments of products/services in line with specific methodologies:

• Carbon footprint as per ISO standards
• Environmental footprint as per the methodology proposed by the EC
• LCA as per the ISO standards and various Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) reference systems such as Environdec, IBU-EPD, etc.

>> Further information

Article written by Rafael Miguel – Recycling and Circular Economy Market Manager at GAIKER – See original

Lithium is classified by the European Union as a key component in the transition away from fossil fuels towards clean energy. More and more electronic devices and electric vehicles are using lithium batteries. The increasing consumption of these devices means that these batteries need to be managed properly at the end of their useful life, they need to be recycled responsibly and the materials they contain need to be recovered to minimise their environmental impact.

GAIKER we research and develop technologies and processes to improve and make progress in the different stages of recycling lithium-ion batteries.

1. We develop different processes for the different stages of recycling lithium-ion batteries and other batteries with complex chemistries.
2. In the first stage, we discharge batteries so that we can deliver a safe, environmentally friendly process with a capacity and processing time in line with industry requirements.
3. We dismantle batteries and remove the electrodes in order to extract the black mass. We extract high purity black mass from different types of EV battery waste (modules, cells, production rejects) by mechanical (crushing and shredding) and physical (ultrasound) methods.
4. We have developed a process for automatically sorting battery cathodes by electrochemistry, prior to extracting the black mass. To this end, we applied artificial intelligence techniques to spectral information obtained by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). We have successfully tested different types of batteries (PAE, mobile, EV) with very good results.
5. We have looked at different physical ways of removing the adhesive covering the active material on the the anode and cathode: calcination, cryogenic grinding with a rotor mill and ultrasound.
6. We have investigated how to separate the carbonaceous fraction on the anode from the Li metal oxides on the cathode using both dry and wet techniques. We have tested a number of different options, particularly gravimetric techniques, and prioritised the concentration of metal oxides with minimum loss.
7. We have looked at separating the different types of materials contained in the shredded batteries after the black mass has been extracted.
8. We have recovered the following active materials from the black mass: Li, Co, Ni, Mn, etc. by means of hydrometallurgy, by optimising the different stages of selective leaching, precipitation and crystallisation.

All of these developments allow GAIKER to provide environmentally and economically positive solutions to industry to ensure the circularity of batteries at the end of their useful life.

The European SUNRISE project will support the development of advanced materials that are safer for people and the environment and more sustainable from the early product development stages to the end of their useful life.

GAIKER Technology Centre is a member of the Basque Research Technology Alliance (BRTA) and one of the 19 partners involved in the European Safe and Sustainable by Design: Integrated Approaches for Impact Assessment of Advanced Materials (SUNRISE) project.

Within the framework of the SUNRISE was launched as part of the European Union's Horizon programme with the aim of developing a tool over the next three years to assess the impact of advanced materials on human health, the environment, society and the economy, in order to be able to make decisions on the safety and sustainability of these materials from the design stage and throughout their life cycles and value chains.

This tool will be presented as a user-friendly web platform and a guide to tackle the challenges of implementing the Safety and Sustainability by Design (SSbD) strategy.

Advanced materials (AdMas) are new materials with improved properties that are specifically designed to perform better than conventional materials (higher strength, durability, lighter, etc.) used for the same purpose.

This research was initiated to analyse whether these materials are safer for people and the environment and more sustainable. GAIKER will primarily be responsible for establishing the methodological blocks for assessing environmental safety and human health (assessment criteria, thresholds, categories and tools). To this end, the Technology Centre will assess the applicability of in vitro models for assessing the safety of advanced materials and will adapt and develop new approach methodologies (NAMs) and integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATA) that can be used to assess the safety of AdMas for the environment and human health in a cost-effective way while avoiding animal testing.

SUNRISE received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 10113732.