FARPLAS OTOMOTIV ANONIM SIRKETI

Their core work

Farplas is a large Turkish automotive parts manufacturer based in Kocaeli, one of Turkey's main industrial hubs. They specialize in plastic and composite components for vehicles, with growing involvement in circular economy approaches — recycling automotive plastics (PMMA, PP) and designing for end-of-life recovery. More recently, they have expanded into smart manufacturing, applying digital twins, virtual sensors, and AI-driven quality control to their production processes. Their coordination of the REVOLUTION project shows they are actively positioning themselves in the electric vehicle supply chain, particularly around lightweight recycled materials.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Farplas began their H2020 participation in 2018 with a clear focus on plastics recycling and circular material flows — solvent-based recycling, process monitoring, and lifecycle assessment for composites, textiles, and packaging materials (MultiCycle). By 2021, their focus shifted sharply toward digitalization and smart manufacturing: digital twins, virtual sensors, zero-defect manufacturing, and AI-assisted quality control (i4Q, TEAMING.AI). Throughout both periods, circular economy thinking remained a constant thread, but the tools evolved from physical recycling processes to data-driven design and EV-focused material recovery (REVOLUTION).

Farplas is converging their recycling expertise with digital manufacturing capabilities, positioning themselves as a supplier of recycled lightweight components for the electric vehicle industry.

How they like to work

Farplas primarily joins consortia as a participant (3 of 4 projects), contributing industrial manufacturing expertise and serving as a pilot/demonstration site for research concepts. Their single coordination role in REVOLUTION — their largest-funded project — suggests growing ambition to lead. With 76 unique partners across 20 countries, they operate as an open networker rather than a repeat-partner organization, which is typical for an industrial company offering real production environments to diverse research groups.

Farplas has built a broad European network of 76 unique partners across 20 countries in just 4 projects, indicating they consistently join large Innovation Action consortia. As a Turkish manufacturer, they bridge EU research with industrial application capacity in a key automotive production region.

What sets them apart

Farplas brings something rare to EU consortia: a large-scale automotive plastics manufacturer willing to serve as a real industrial testbed for research concepts — from recycling processes to AI quality control. Their combination of circular economy expertise and digital manufacturing adoption makes them a strong demonstration partner for projects that need to prove results beyond the lab. For consortium builders, they offer direct access to Turkish automotive supply chains, one of Europe's largest vehicle production ecosystems.

Highlights from their portfolio

• REVOLUTION
  Their only coordinated project and largest funding (€568K), focused on recycled polymers for electric vehicles — signals a strategic bet on the EV transition.
• MultiCycle
  Their earliest H2020 project, tackling advanced solvent-based recycling of multi-material plastics across composites, textiles, films, and packaging.
• i4Q
  Demonstrates their digital transformation ambitions — applying blockchain, digital twins, and virtual sensors to industrial quality control.