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Advancing Safe, Sustainable, and Recyclable-by-Design (SSRbD): An Integrated Approach for Polymeric Materials - Insights from the SURPASS project
Summary
Most plastic waste today gets burned or dumped in landfills instead of recycled, and the chemicals in many plastics can be harmful to our health and hormones. This research project developed new plastic materials—used in things like building insulation, trains, and food packaging—that skip the toxic additives while still working well and being easier to recycle multiple times. The takeaway: safer, more recyclable plastics are actually possible to make at scale, which could mean fewer harmful chemicals in the products around us and less plastic pollution overall.
Plastic materials are indispensable in modern society, yet their persistence in the environment contributes to long-term pollution, endocrine disruption, and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite increasing collection efforts in Europe, around 70% of plastic waste is still landfilled or incinerated, highlighting the urgent need for systemic innovation. In this context, the SURPASS project aims to accelerate the transition toward Safe, Sustainable, and Recyclable-by-Design (SSRbD) polymeric materials through an integrated, cross-sectoral approach. Bringing together 13 partners, SURPASS develops and validates SSRbD polymeric systems that eliminate potentially hazardous substances while maintaining high performance in industrially relevant applications. The project combines material innovation with the optimization of reprocessing technologies and the development of a comprehensive scoring-based assessment framework addressing hazard, health, environmental, and economic dimensions across the full life cycle. Three demonstrative case studies illustrate the approach: (i) a bio-based, vitrimer-enabled polyurethane for building applications, offering improved thermal performance, reduced weight, and multi-cycle recyclability without harmful additives; (ii) lightweight, fire-resistant epoxy vitrimer composites for railway structures, enabling significant weight reduction, high material recovery rates, and operational energy savings; and (iii) advanced multilayer packaging films with high barrier properties, reduced compatibilizer content, and enhanced recyclability through an innovative decontamination process achieving up to 99% contaminant removal. Beyond materials, SURPASS delivers a digital open-access platform integrating SSRbD criteria, metrics, and decision-support tools, particularly targeting SMEs. The project also operationalizes the SSbD framework for polymers, compiles toxicity data for additives, and contributes to standardization through the development of CWA 18305 for decontamination assessment. Overall, SURPASS demonstrates that SSRbD polymeric materials are technically feasible and economically viable. By combining material design, recycling innovation, and holistic assessment, the project provides actionable guidance and tools to support the transition toward safer and more sustainable plastics systems in Europe.