Clara Bilbao

• The CÍCLICOM National Platform for Complex Plastics and Composites will be unveiled during the event.
• CÍCLICOM is looking to add actors to its innovation ecosystem based around composite materials and complex plastics

On February 18, Madrid will host the closing event of the CÍCLICOM project, an innovation ecosystem that connects technology centers, companies, and associations in order to speed up the circular economy involving complex materials and plastics in the automotive, aeronautics, renewable energy, and electrical-electronic sectors. The event will showcase the main results of the CÍCLICOM project, raise awareness about the CÍCLICOM National Platform for Complex Plastics and Composites, and there will be presentations and round tables to discuss the challenges and opportunities for effectively connecting the supply and demand of recycled plastics in Spain. 

The meeting will bring together key players in the recycled plastic value chain (recyclers, transformers, industries that use plastics, sector-specific associations, public administrations and R&D&I actors linked to the circular economy) to discuss challenges, opportunities and new solutions that will make it possible to recover waste that is still going to landfill.

The event will be opened by María Pilar González Gotor, head of the Department of Institutional Promotion and Territorial Cooperation of the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI by its Spanish acronym), the entity that is funding the project through the Innovation Ecosystems programme as part of the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and NextGenerationEU funds.

Luis Madariaga, Director of the Composites and Sustainable Functional Polymers Department at GAIKER, will then present the CÍCLICOM project as an innovation ecosystem for the circularity of composites and complex plastics. After him, Juan Antonio Gascón, Project Manager at Aclima, Basque Environment Cluster, will present the CÍCLICOM National Platform for Complex Plastics and Composites, which was devised as a platform to bring together actors from the production sector and facilitate access to state-of-the-art technological capabilities.

The event will continue with a presentation by Mercedes Santiago, a researcher and project manager at the CIDAUT Foundation, on the advantages and benefits of being part of the CÍCLICOM ecosystem for companies and organisations that want to improve the recovery of complex plastic waste.

Another highlight of the day will be the round table entitled “State of supply and demand of recycled plastics in Spain: how to facilitate the supply-demand connection”, moderated by Óscar Hernández, general manager of ANARPLA. Mikel Llona (CEO, CTO and co-founder of Birziplastik), Beatriz Castillo (Deputy Director of Waste and Plastics at Veolia) and Goio Borge (Project Manager at Zirkularte – Ecoinnovation) will share their views on current market needs.

After a break, the programme will focus on how the circular economy can be a decisive tool in the plastics industry. Pablo Ferrero, leader of the Biotechnology Cell at AIMPLAS, will look at the present and future challenges of the circular economy with regard to plastics. Then, Óscar Hernández will present the “Plastics Recycling Strategy” as a key initiative for strengthening the circular economy in Spain, underlining the importance of increasing the availability of quality recycled material for industry.

The business perspective regarding the recovery of complex plastics will be rounded off with a presentation by Juan Pablo Antillera, Technical Director of Waste Treatment at VALORIZA, who will share his company's experience and perspective on the circular economy for these types of materials.

Following this, a round table discussion on “Recovering composites and complex plastics: challenges and opportunities”, moderated by David Redondo, Head of Innovation & AI Architecture at VALORIZA, will feature Federico Sanmartín (Managing Director of ENERGYLOOP), Aitor Pablos (Business Development Manager of SBS) and Coralie Jehanno (Scientific Director and co-founder of Polykey), who will analyse the main barriers to and potential for development in the recycling of complex plastics.

Asier Ochoa de Eribe, Vice-President of Aclima, Basque Environment Cluster, will bring proceedings to a close. This event will mark the end of a project which, by promoting the circular economy, has boosted the competitiveness and internationalisation of companies from different productive sectors, fostered collaboration between technology centres, companies and administrations, and strengthened the value chains linked to recycling composite materials and complex plastics.

Almost 32 million tons of plastic waste are generated in Europe every year (European Commission). In Europe, the recycling rate for plastic packaging waste was 42.1% in 2023, according to Eurostat data, which was slightly lower than the rate in Spain (46.2%).

About the CÍCLICOM project

CÍCLICOM is an innovation ecosystem run by GAIKER (leader), Aclima, Basque Environment Cluster, AIMPLAS, ANARPLA, CIDAUT and VALORIZA Servicios Medioambientales, which connects technology centres, companies and associations to drive the effective circular economy of composite materials and so-called ‘complex plastics’. The project provides high added-value technical solutions for recovering and reintroducing waste that currently often ends up in landfills into the production cycle, while at the same time making it easier for companies to get access to quality secondary raw materials.

The ecosystem provides companies, particularly SMEs, with access to specialist knowledge, technological skills and a connected network of assets and services for training on, research on, testing and validation of technologies related to complex plastics and composite materials. The project also promotes the development of technology roadmaps, the training of professionals and the dissemination of best practices, thereby helping to bridge the gap between supply and demand for recycled plastics in Europe.

The project has been funded by the CDTI's Innovation Ecosystems programme, and the aim is to promote the introduction of the technological capacities developed by Cervera Technology Centres of Excellence into the economic and social environment, fostering their enhancement and contribution to the consolidation of innovative ecosystems The call is included in the actions foreseen in the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), and receives funding through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism of the European Union's “Next Generation EU”.

Practical information and registration:

• Date: 18/02/2026
• Time: 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m
• Location: Espacio Eventize (María de Molina 41-43, 28006 Madrid)
• Free registration using this form
• Full programme at this link
• More information about the CÍCLICOM project at: www.ciclicom.com

GAIKER is involved in the SMARTµS project, which will develop electrochemical sensors based on advanced genetic detection techniques to identify bacteria and their antibiotic resistance genes.

The GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), is working on the SMARTµS project (Smart sensing through micro- and nanotechnologies in industrial environments).

This project tackles different scientific-technological challenges linked to manufacturing microsystems aimed at increasing their application in Industry 4.0. Its aim is to generate knowledge on developing measurement and transduction principles that will ensure detection with high sensitivity and specificity, based on various physical principles. To do so, it will integrate micro- and nanostructures with different functionalities into the transducer, which will be created by advanced micro and nanofabrication technologies.

GAIKER has a wealth of experience in biotechnology (biodetection and biomedicine), nanotechnology and advanced materials, with applications for environmental sustainability, the agri-food sector and health. In the SMARTµS framework, it is leading task 2, which focuses on developing electrochemical sensors for detecting bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA), Listeria monocytogenes and Legionella spp.) by combining LAMP gene amplification and CRISPR-Cas technology. This approach is particularly important, as there are currently no sensors based on the technologies proposed for detecting these pathogens.

The sensors developed will primarily be applied in agri-food production (dairy industry, meat and fish processing, beverages, among others), and in promoting technology-based companies with expertise in microfluidics applied to in vitro diagnostics (IVD), biofunctionalisation of surfaces and flexible electrochemistry, among other strategic sectors.

The SMARTµS project is being carried out by GAIKER and seven other partners of the Basque Science and Technology Network, including the TEKNIKER Foundation (leader of the consortium), Mondragon Goi Eskola Politeknikoa (Fluid Mechanics Group) and the University of the Basque Country (Innovative Macromolecular Group, Dept. of Physical Chemistry). The project was launched last May, will last twenty months and is funded by the Basque Government through the ELKARTEK programme, which promotes collaborative research in strategic areas.

Subsidised by the Basque Government

The INTESCOP project will improve plastic waste sorting processes to get quality recovered fractions and boost the circularity of post-consumer plastics.

The GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA) is carrying out the project on circular economy applied to complex plastic waste based on smart identification with innovative spectroscopic analysis techniques, INTESCOP.

With the aim of developing new real-time identification technologies that enable highly efficient plastic waste sorting, according to its polymeric nature, this industrial research will offer a solution to the technological challenges of plastic waste sorting identified by the eco-industry.

INTESCOP will work for two years (2025-2027) to generate a technological knowledge base that will help to advance the design and development of new systems for the automatic sorting of complex plastic waste by combining AI with advanced spectroscopic analysis techniques: hyperspectral vision and terahertz spectroscopy.

GAIKER is an expert in recycling technologies and in the development and assessment of waste conditioning and recovery processes for subsequent use as secondary raw materials. This research will develop and assess, through laboratory pilot projects, AI-based models to be applied to the automatic identification and classification of multilayer and biodegradable plastics contained in the light packaging waste stream and technical plastics in the waste stream of electrical and electronic equipment, based on the analysis of their respective spectral fingerprints.

With INTESCOP, funded by Bizkaia Provincial Council within the 2025 Technology Transfer Programme, the plastic waste sorting processes implemented in the eco-industry of Bizkaia will be improved in order to obtain higher quality recovered fractions and increase the volume of post-consumer plastics that are reintroduced into the economic cycle as secondary raw materials.

Bizkaiko Foru Aldundiak finantzatu du proiektu hau, 2025eko Teknologia Transferentzia Programaren barruan / This project has been funded by Bizkaia Provincial Council within the Technology Transfer Programme 2025

CICLICOM is in the construction phase of a digital platform that will serve as a meeting point for the agents in the sector.

The innovation ecosystem for the circularity of composite materials and complex plastics, CICLICOM, led by the GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance, BRTA, is advancing in its development and is currently in the construction phase of a digital platform that will serve as a meeting point for agents in the sector.

This platform will facilitate the matching and geolocation of supply and demand related to plastic waste and the technologies required for its treatment, by integrating the infrastructures, services and capacities of various organisations. The aim is to promote the creation of new business opportunities, technology transfer and cooperation between companies, technology centres and public and private entities. Furthermore, the process of launching an extension campaign is being initiated with the aim of bringing in new organisations that can provide additional capacities and services. This expansion seeks to enrich the development of technological solutions and generate new business opportunities.

More about CICLICOM
CICLICOM was launched in 2024 with the aim of integrating the key actors of the national production sector in the field of composite materials and complex plastics and in the areas related to technologies for the treatment, recycling and use of waste and products at the end of their life cycle. Through the creation of this ecosystem, the aim is to provide the business sector with access to state-of-the-art knowledge and technology, creating and providing an interconnected network of infrastructures and services. The aim is to offer companies an environment in which they can evaluate technologies before making major investments in their production processes, generating synergies between different agents in the ecosystem to improve efficiency in the management of plastic waste and develop technological solutions that lead to an effective circular economy of materials.

VALORIZA Environmental Services, the National Association of Plastic Recyclers (ANARPLA), the Basque Environment Cluster (ACLIMA) and the GAIKER, AIMPLAS and CIDAUT technology centres are working on this initiative, which is financed by the CDTI (Centre for Industrial Technological Development) within the Innovation Ecosystems Programme.

More information on how to join the collaborative space: https://ciclicom.com/#contacto

The BIRPLAST project devoted to obtaining circular raw materials from plastic waste by applying intelligent separation and chemical recycling technologies has come to an end

The BIRPLAST project, in which GAIKER, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance, BRTA, has participated, along with three other actors of the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network, has come to an end this year. This research, led by the Sener Engineering and Technology Group, has enabled ten companies to join forces to carry out R&D in new technologies for the separation and chemical recycling of plastic waste to ensure the production of high quality circular raw materials.

BIRPLAST was launched in 2022 with the aim of generating a knowledge base to develop improved recycling processes in the eco-industry for various complex plastic waste streams – streams generated mainly during the treatment of other waste, such as light packaging, end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) – as the current state of the art does not allow the full potential of these resources and raw materials to be harnessed.

The project has drawn to a close with significant results related to advanced separation. In the case of light packaging waste, an improved material sorting step has been defined to match the composition of plastic fractions of limited recyclability and rejection, supported by the application of spectroscopic and data analysis techniques based on machine learning. Work has also been carried out on the use of plastic waste with some traces of metal from car shredders by means of smart separation techniques.

New pyrolysis processes have been developed for the chemical recycling of waste. One treats mixed plastics in which the waxes generated are reprocessed to offer lighter and more valuable products while reducing their chlorine content. The other processes plastics with biomass and obtains oils with low halogen content. New solvolysis processes have also been developed to recycle polyesters and polyurethane foams from car shredding. Gasification processes have also been adapted to work with different types of waste and with different degrees of humidity, using fluidised bed and jet spouted bed reactors to obtain and purify synthesis gas. Finally, the treatment of water generated during the pyrolysis and gasification processes and the use of pyrolysis oils as wood protection actors have also been defined.

Furthermore, for each result, such as smart separation processes or monomers, chemicals or oils obtained by solvolysis or pyrolysis, production efficiency and the contribution to the circular economy has been measured and the environmental assessment has been completed to determine the improvement resulting from the generation of these circular raw materials compared to the existing management of plastic waste that is not used.

BIRPLAST, which has been successfully completed and has fulfilled the objectives set, is a strategic industrial research project that has received funding from the HAZITEK 2022 programme (Exp. ZE-2022/00022), a programme to support the business R&D of the Basque Government's Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment.