How can industry move towards sustainable manufacturing and benefit from it?
Towards sustainable manufacturing
The World Economic Forum highlights the worrying state of the environmental situation in Europe in 2021: industry emits an annual total of 880 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and equivalents, making the continent one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases.
Industry is also responsible for no less than 30 % of the 914 million tonnes of waste produced in the European Economic Area (EEA). Most of this waste is not recycled and contributes to soil and water pollution. Air pollution is also a major consequence of industrial activities and tends to have serious effects on our health (5% of lung cancers are due to prolonged exposure to pollution).
A decarbonised European Union
We need an industrial ecological transition. Financial constraints to implementing cleaner processes, profit-driven decisions, lack of experience in sustainability and encouraging policies are some of the many barriers to sustainable manufacturing.
How can Industry 4.0 technologies help overcome these barriers and contribute to a more sustainable manufacturing sector? How will manufacturing be the key player in a decarbonised EU?
TECNALIA is responsible for the improvement of different pre-existing modules for multi-material bonding that will be part of the pan-European network of virtually connected modules:
- Laser junction unit: output module of the FlexHyJoin project. It has proven effective in producing sealed joints subjected to cutting forces in small and complex geometries.
- Mechanical bonding unit: enables components with high stripping load requirements to be joined in order to soften the material and recover the composite.