STA SMART TALKS WITH ANTONIO AMENGUAL: TOWARDS CIRCULAR & LOW CARBON BARRIERS
Join us for the first episode of the new STA SMART TALKS series. Host and STA President Dr José Papí invites Mr Antonio Amengual, Director of Road Safety at Road Steel by Gonvarri Industries, for an insightful discussion on vehicle restraint systems that are at the same time safe & and circular, overreaching the goals of the European Green Deal & the new EU Taxonomy, while simultaneously ensuring the highest possible safety for vehicles and passengers.
Mr Amengual introduces three important principles that can change tremendously not only the manufacturing of vehicle restraint systems but also the production of road safety equipment towards a greener path, in full commitment to the green transition in Europe:
Decarbonisation, meaning reduction as far as possible of the carbon footprint during the production, installation and maintenance of barriers;
Circularity, focusing on the management of the end-of-life (EOL) barriers, including recycling and waste management of the barrier systems;
Resilience/reusability, highlighting how barriers can be reused after impact, including a new barriers system with memory functionality.
To underline these three points and relate them to real-world use cases, Mr Amengual also presents two best practice examples his company is developing and conducting research for:
Transforming plastic waste into polymeric structural bars, reducing significantly the carbon footprint of the barrier systems and other road equipment; contributing to a truly circular economy through a collaboration with the plastic waste sector.
Carrying out extensive research on roadside types of equipment with a minimum or even negative footprints.
Development of a resilient memory steel barrier that can be bent back into shape even after a vehicle impact and can be reused.
Watch the full episode below & learn more about Circular & Low Carbon Safety Barriers.
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