University of Milano-Bicocca, COORDINATOR (Italy) - www.unimib.it

The Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB) is a public university located in Milan, Italy, providing undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education. The University of Milano-Bicocca has fourteen departments in the fields of Economics-Statistics, Law, Medicine, Phycology, Science, Sociology and Education. In less than twenty years the Bicocca University has achieved the highest national and international honours: 3rd largest university in Lombardy by student population; 2nd highest ranked Italian university among those comparable in size (according to ANVUR); number 55 on the list for best 150 universities less than 50 years’ old, according to THE Times Higher Education; 11 out of 14 departments are defined as “of excellence” by the Italian Ministry (MIUR).

With about 900 professors and researchers, Bicocca offers a wide range of degree courses: 32 Bachelor, 36 Master’s Degree, and 5 unified Master’s Degree courses. There are 33,000 enrolled students, of which over 2200 are international.

MONOLITHOS Catalysts and Recycling ltd - Greece - www.monolithos.gr

MONOLITHOS has an eighteen -years experience in manufacturing, regenerating, and recycling of catalytic converters. MONOLITHOS Business Portfolio is based on 1,025 Professional Automotive Workshops Clients for aftermarket products and 1,335 Suppliers of spent automotive catalysts for recycling.

Nowadays, MONOLITHOS possesses a cost-effective logistics optimized collection network for spent catalytic converters covering the whole Greek territory, islands included. For the purposes of pre-processing the automotive spent catalytic converters, after their storing and sorting (ceramic – metallic), MONOLITHOS acquired a de-canning facility with capability of treating 40.000 converters per year.

MONOLITHOS also manufactures catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters (DPFs) for all vehicle makes and models. The Direct-fit catalytic converters use either ceramic honeycomb or high flow metallic substrate and are available with 2 years or 80.000 warranty and EU homologation. The Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) incorporate precious metals in order to have catalytic activity and their honeycomb is either conventional cordierite or novel Silicon Carbide (SiC).

MONOLITHOS manufactures and regenerates catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters for heavy duty mobile applications (off road construction machines and trucks/buses). Except from Catalytic Converters and Particulate Filters, the commercial MONOLITHOS’ portfolio includes Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCRs) devices for reduction emission for Euro VI heavy duty applications (more than 500bhp).

The company’s office is located in Athens, its production facility is located near the centre of Athens (Ak. Platonos). Furthermore, MONOLITHOS has a storage facility in the city of Thessaloniki (north of Greece). MONOLITHOS is an independent SME according to EU standards. More than 37% of MONOLITHOS’ annual turnover is coming from exports (mainly to Germany).

Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (Fraunhofer ISC) - Germany - www.isc.fraunhofer.de/en.html

The Fraunhofer ISC is one of presently 72 institutes of the German Fraunhofer Organization, which are focused on application and product oriented research. The Fraunhofer ISC headquarter is located in Würzburg (Germany), with major subsidiaries in Bamberg and Bayreuth. The Fraunhofer ISC institute has nearly 500 employees and a budget of around 35 million euro. Its R&D domains are energy, resources, biomedicine, environment and smart materials/adaptive systems. Traditionally the Fraunhofer ISC is a material research institute with close relation to glass research and has gained a strong position in the field of particle processing.

Stichting Katholieke Universiteit (Radboud University Nijmegen) - The Nederlands) - www.ru.nl/environmentalscience

Radboud University Nijmegen is a public university with a strong focus on research. The department of environmental science, embedded in the faculty of science, is one of the leading academic communities in Europe in the development of quantitative state-of-art methods for life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), uncertainty and variability quantification and technology assessment.

Pirelli Tyre S.p.A – Italy – www.pirelli.com

Pirelli was founded in Milan in 1872 and today stands as a global brand known for its cutting edge technology, high-end production excellence and passion for innovation that draws heavily on its Italian roots.

Pirelli, a Pure Consumer Tyre Company, has a particular focus on the High Value tyre market and is constantly engaged in the development of innovative products to address the most specific mobility needs of the final Consumer, such as Specialty and Super Specialty tyres.