FENIX · Project

Recover Valuable Materials from Old Products and Turn Waste into New Revenue

manufacturingPilotedTRL 6

Imagine you have a warehouse full of old electronics or car parts that everyone treats as junk. FENIX figured out how to take those apart, pull out the valuable metals and materials, and feed them back into manufacturing — like urban mining, but with a proper business plan. They built pilot plants for materials recovery and additive manufacturing, plus a digital decision-support system that tells you which recovery route makes the most money. The whole point is turning Europe's waste streams into competitive supply chains instead of shipping raw materials from abroad.

By the numbers

EUR 3,995,125

EU research investment in circular economy recovery technology

consortium partners across the value chain

European countries in the supply chain network

pilot plants reconfigured and tested (materials recovery, additive manufacturing, assembly-disassembly)

SMEs involved in development and testing

The business problem

What needed solving

European manufacturers depend heavily on imported raw materials while tons of valuable secondary resources — metals, components, critical materials — sit in waste streams or end-of-life products. Companies lack the tools to figure out which recovery routes are profitable, and production lines aren't set up to handle reclaimed materials. This means money literally going to landfill while raw material costs keep climbing.

The solution

What was built

FENIX built and tested 3 pilot plants (materials recovery, additive manufacturing, assembly-disassembly), a decision support system with semantic modeling and analytics, sensor networking for data fusion, and a digital marketplace connecting secondary resource supply with demand. Pilot series production of components was completed in 2 use cases.

Audience

Who needs this

E-waste recyclers looking to increase recovery rates and revenue per tonAutomotive remanufacturers dealing with end-of-life vehicle componentsManufacturers with overcapacity wanting to add secondary materials processingIndustrial parks seeking to create circular economy loops between tenantsRaw materials traders looking for digital tools to source secondary resources

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Electronics recycling and WEEE processing

SME

Target: E-waste recyclers and secondary raw materials processors

If you are an e-waste processing company struggling with low recovery rates and volatile raw material prices — this project developed pilot-tested materials recovery plants and a decision support system that identifies the most profitable recovery paths for secondary resources. The DSS analytics engine can help you decide which components to recover and which supply chains to plug into, across a consortium of 12 partners in 6 countries.

Automotive parts remanufacturing

mid-size

Target: Automotive component remanufacturers and aftermarket suppliers

If you are an automotive parts company dealing with costly raw material imports and end-of-life vehicle components piling up — FENIX built and tested assembly-disassembly pilot stations and additive manufacturing pilot plants specifically for component recovery. Their pilot series production demonstrated that recovered materials can be turned back into usable components, closing your supply chain loop.

Industrial equipment and machinery

enterprise

Target: Equipment manufacturers looking to reconfigure production lines

If you are a machinery manufacturer with overcapacity in your production lines and rising material costs — FENIX developed sensor networking, data fusion mechanisms, and a marketplace platform that connects companies with secondary resources to those who can use them. The project demonstrated modular reconfiguration of production systems across 3 pilot plants to exploit idle capacity.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement FENIX's recovery systems in my facility?

The project does not publish per-unit implementation costs. The total EU research investment was EUR 3,995,125 across 12 partners and 3 pilot plants (materials recovery, additive manufacturing, assembly-disassembly). Actual deployment costs would depend on your facility size and which modules you adopt — the DSS engine could help estimate ROI for your specific case.

Can this work at industrial scale or is it still lab-level?

FENIX went beyond lab testing. They reconfigured existing pilot plants and ran pilot series production of components in at least 2 use cases. The materials recovery pilot plant, additive manufacturing pilot plant, and assembly-disassembly pilot station were all built, tested, and optimized — indicating readiness for scale-up, not just proof of concept.

What about intellectual property — can I license this technology?

The project was funded as an RIA (Research and Innovation Action) with 12 consortium partners across 6 countries. IP arrangements would be governed by the consortium agreement. You would need to contact the coordinator or specific technology partners to discuss licensing terms for the DSS platform, sensor systems, or pilot plant configurations.

How does the decision support system actually work?

FENIX built a DSS with three layers: a semantic model that maps your materials and processes, an analytics engine that evaluates recovery options, and a marketplace platform that connects supply and demand for secondary resources. Sensor networking and data fusion feed real-time production data into the system.

Is this compliant with EU circular economy regulations?

The project was designed around circular economy business models and aligns with EU goals for resource efficiency and reduced dependence on imported raw materials. Based on available project data, the business models were specifically designed to meet sustainability requirements driving current EU regulation.

What's the timeline to get from pilot to full deployment?

The project ran from 2018 to 2021 and completed pilot demonstrations. The pilot plants were reconfigured from existing facilities, suggesting the approach builds on current infrastructure rather than requiring greenfield investment. Based on available project data, deployment timeline would depend on integrating the DSS and reconfiguring your existing production lines.

Consortium

Who built it

The FENIX consortium of 12 partners across 6 countries (AT, DE, EL, ES, IT, RO) is well-balanced for a circular economy project with 42% industry participation. With 5 industrial partners and 4 SMEs on board, this was not an ivory-tower exercise — real companies were involved in building and testing the pilot plants. The coordinator is an Austrian systems and automation engineering organization, which makes sense given the project's focus on reconfiguring production systems. The mix of 2 universities and 3 research organizations provided the scientific backbone, while the industrial partners ensured the solutions were grounded in real manufacturing needs. The geographic spread covers key European manufacturing regions.

OSTERREICHISCHE GESELLSCHAFT FUR SYSTEM- UND AUTOMATISIERUNGSTECHNIKCoordinator · AT
MATRES SCRLthirdparty · IT
ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXISparticipant · EL
MBN NANOMATERIALIA SRLparticipant · IT
CENTRE CIM FUNDACIO PRIVADAparticipant · ES
BALANCE TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING GMBHparticipant · DE
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DELL'AQUILAparticipant · IT
KOUTRETSOS KONSTANTINOSparticipant · EL
SINGULARLOGIC PLIROFORIAKON SYSTIMATON KAI EFARMOGON PLIROFORIKISparticipant · EL
POLITECNICO DI MILANOparticipant · IT
GREENTRONICS SRLparticipant · RO

How to reach the team

The coordinator is OSTERREICHISCHE GESELLSCHAFT FUR SYSTEM- UND AUTOMATISIERUNGSTECHNIK based in Austria. SciTransfer can facilitate an introduction to the right technical contact.

Order a report on this consortium See OSTERREICHISCHE GESELLSCHAFT FUR SYSTEM- UND AUTOMATISIERUNGSTECHNIK profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how FENIX's recovery technology and decision support tools could work for your materials or production line? SciTransfer can arrange a direct briefing with the project team — contact us for a one-page business brief tailored to your sector.

Order a report on this topic More in Manufacturing & Industry 4.0