LAUSR

Abstract Circular Economy and Environment Management can be strictly connected by integrating latest technologies for material recycling. Project Tyrecs (Tyre Recycling for Clean Seas) aims to produce smart devices for sea cleaning by using recycled materials. Filters are made by cold compression molding of pyrolytic carbon from tire recycling. These filters would be integrated in marine buoys made by rotational molding of recycled polyethylene. Experimental tests have been performed to correlate cold compression conditions with the final filter density and its absorbing capability. By increasing compaction pressure, mechanical strength increases as well as material handling and usage, but absorbing performances reduce. In this study, first physical prototypes of filters have been produced to show their ability for selective recovery of oil from a water surface. Moreover, conceptual studies of the cleaning buoy have been performed to allow optimal integration of the compression molded filters.