Custom 3D printed jewels born from our old mobile phones.
The Horizon 2020 Fenix project, of which the Politecnico di Milano is a partner, has given new life to electronic waste, which has become raw material for eco-compatible products such as new metal filaments for 3D printing, green metal powders for additive manufacturing and sustainable jewelry 3D printed.
The Project, explains the Politecnico in a note, ended after 40 months of work and achieved the goal of developing new business models and industrial strategies in a circular economy perspective.
"In particular, the Industry 4.0 Laboratory of the Management Engineering Department of the Politecnico di Milano has implemented an automated station for the disassembly of mobile phone cards thanks to collaborative-robots (cobots) which are among the most advanced automation solutions in terms of technology robotics, as they guarantee operational flexibility, allowing interaction with the surrounding environment and with the operators with whom they share tasks "reads the note.
Thanks to the circular supply chain set up by the consortium that adheres to the project, the electronic boards disassembled by the Politecnico "are processed by the University of L'Aquila, which recovers some pure materials from the boards and electronic components (such as copper, tin, gold, silver and platinum ). Copper and tin are transformed into both metal powders and filaments suitable for 3D printing, both subsequently tested by the Fundaciò Cim research center in Barcelona (Spain) - adds the Polytechnic - Precious metals are instead used "by two Athens companies (). Greece) for the creation of eco-compatible jewels "which, offered for sale through the consortium," can also be customized through a 3D scanning service and take the shape of objects or people's faces ".
The hope, concludes the note, "is that at the end of the project, the business models designed and tested by Fenix will be replicable by other external parties, to promote the creation of new circular supply chains".
