Life Impacto

Manufacturing new motorcycle helmets and products by separating and recycling polymer materials from end-of-life helmets.

Life Impacto is a pioneering project designed to bring an eco-sustainable, approved helmet model to market, crafted from recycled polymers (ABS, EPS, PC) extracted from end-of-life helmets.

Innovando will take charge of two key activities:

Managing logistics and traceability processes for the take-back campaign, aimed at collecting used helmets from end consumers through a network many stores across 6 European countries;

Setting up and commissioning a plant designed for the selective separation of materials, leveraging an innovative recycling technology based on dissolution.

From
end-of-life helmets
to new products

Collection of end-of-life helmets

Traceability of their handling

Material separation and recycling with bio-solvents

Production of new helmets

The challenge of recycling used helmets

Motorcycle helmets are some of the most challenging products to recycle due to their composite structure.
The plastics used in their construction are bonded to the finished product through processes that make mechanical separation and recycling extremely difficult, if not economically and industrially feasible.
As a result, landfill disposal and incineration are currently the main methods of disposal.

Solutions of the project

Life Impacto aims to establish a circular process for recycling post-consumer motorcycle helmets through dissolution, following collection via a consumer-focused campaign.
The project will develop an innovative industrial-scale facility that enables the separation of the different plastic materials in the helmet using bio-based solvents (limonene and ethyl acetate) sourced from food industry waste.
Key plastics (ABS, EPS, and PC) will be recovered and reused within the same value chain to produce new helmet components with the same mechanical properties and safety standards.

Expected outcomes

An eco-sustainable, certified helmet model will be introduced to the market, designed and developed with design-for-recycling principles. It will be free from adhesives, feature reduced material variety, and facilitate easier material separation during recycling.
If 5,000 helmets are recycled, 3,700 kg of ABS, 1,056 kg of EPS, and over 600 kg of PC will be recovered.
This process will deliver significant environmental benefits, including a 60% reduction in CO₂ emissions, a 60% reduction in electricity consumption, and a 50% reduction in water usage.