The second General Assembly of the EcoPlast (Empowering Circular Operations Across the Automotive Plastics Value Chain) project was held from 3 to 5 February 2026 in Istanbul, Türkiye. Kordsa hosted this year’s General Assembly at its Composite Technologies Center of Excellence, where representatives from each consortium partner participated proactively. The event acted as an effective platform to discuss the technical challenges faced by consortium members, pause to reflect on the activities of the first six months, and fine-tune the initial plans in accordance with the Agile methodology.

Each day of the three-day assembly was allocated to cover three types of agenda. On the first day, the leaders of the work packages, along with the task leaders, updated the consortium about their work according to the  work package tasks.

On the second day, the participants attended four workshops on the core tools and use cases of the project.

1. Representatives from Technovative​ Solutions Limited and DigiProd Pass Limited conducted the first workshop on Digital Product Passport (DPP). The workshop focused on the DPP creation process flow, dependencies, partner responsibilities, risks, and mitigation plans.
2. The second workshop was on AI and Digital Twin (DT) to educate the participants on physical modelling and data availability. Brunel Composites Centre, Technovative Solutions Limited, and Simularge A.Ş. facilitated the session.
3. Ford Otosan, Proplast, and Mercedes-Benz Türk conducted the third workshop on Use Cases 1 to 6 to inform participants about UC readiness, dependencies, and the way forward.
4. Similar to the third workshop, Cardiff University and Sabancı University conducted the fourth and final workshop of the day to discuss Use Cases 8 and 9.

The meeting was not limited to in-room discussions; participants also experienced two facilities as part of the meeting on the third day of the assembly. The attendees visited the recycling site of Beker Recycle, where Ford recycles its vehicles. The visit provided insights into how Ford and Beker are materialising the ‘R’ strategy and helped partners decide how to integrate EcoPlast’s advanced sorting technologies (DPP and AI-aided sorting technology) with Beker’s existing technology.

In today’s project management landscape, in-person consortium meetings are no longer restricted to mere discussions alone, and the case of EcoPlast is no exception. This year’s General Assembly thus fueled the consortium to transform the experience of the project into concrete next steps. Moreover, the assembly will help the consortium partners implement the project with more precision and success, according to the participants.

The EcoPlast project has received funding from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) Research & Innovation Actions under grant agreement No 101182147.