EU Pilot Projects to Target Emerging Manufacturing

Ensuring safety is among the considerations in pilot projects on emerging materials or products targeted by the European Commission. These efforts involve "circular economies," a term that refers to industries with highly limited contribution to pollution due do use of certain source materials like biological nutrients or those designed to be absorbed into the biosphere with limited environmental effect.

The five pilots would look at understanding and enhancing European manufacturers' abilities to compete in such areas. But integral to that goal is ensuring that standards for quality, safety and environmental effect can be met.

For now, such concerns are expressed in the general sense as these efforts are in only the proposal stage – the pilots would begin in 2017 with an aim for better understanding in about 2020. The EC deems the five issues to be "cross-cutting" as they affect a wide range of industries.

The pilots target materials with customized thermal/electrical conductivity properties, nanostructured antimicrobial surfaces, nanotextured surfaces with mechanically enhanced properties, 3D printed or injection molded polymeric or ceramic microfluids, and paper-based electronics.

The work also will look at social and economic considerations, including risks and opportunities for small companies. It also will look at likely manufacturing changes.

See the EC's March 9 memo at bit.ly/1R0FZF5.