R&D: Trioworld partners with an engineering school to innovate within recycling projects

The European leader in sustainable polyethylene film solutions Trioworld, which is based in Ombrée-d’Anjou in the Atlantic France region, is working with students from the Icam engineering school on an environmental project. The objective is to improve knowledge of plastic recycling.

The plastic recycling industry is currently facing many challenges. To help it innovate and remove the obstacles in its path, the Swedish group Trioworld, which has a subsidiary in Atlantic France, has turned to a research and training player. 

Innovative external skills

Trioworld’s Atlantic France-based site specialises in films for the agricultural market (wrapping, silage, mulch film, protective film, etc.) and produces 25,000 tonnes per year. It has had a lot of success in the field of recycling thanks to its collaboration with the Icam engineering school in Nantes and Vendée. 

Having gained the German Blue Angel label, the company has worked with students for five years. The latest project aimed to design a fully automated plastic sorting line, thanks to a new combination of technologies. With this innovation, the group wishes to further refine the quality of the sorting, to increase its speed, and to reduce the tediousness of this manual work. 

The engineering students at ICAM never cease to amaze me with their commitment, their professionalism and their desire to make our projects grow. Thanks to them, we have been able to test many technologies for our sorting line through their exchanges with potential partners at European level. They even travelled to Germany and Austria to compare and evaluate different solutions. […] For the partnership to be a win-win situation,  engagement with the students is necessary. Allowing them enough freedom to express their creativity, while at the same time providing a framework for them to participate in your training will lead to positive results from their contributions. This requires flexibility and investment, but the result is definitely worth it!

Thierry Gauchet, Managing Director of Trioworld France

ENSAM: a week dedicated to companies wishing to innovate

In Atlantic France, many companies are developing strong links with the world of research. For example, ENSAM (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers, National School of Arts and Crafts), in Angers, organises a week-long challenge each year. 

During the InnovAM challenge, students have five days to respond to a real-life problem encountered by a company in search of solutions in areas such as design, industrial organisation, innovation projects, product improvement, manufacturing processes, change management, and sustainable development. The aim is to develop strong relationships between students and local companies and to co-construct innovative solutions to help these companies grow. 

It is also a real opportunity for manufacturers to work on their employer’s brand by getting as close as possible to our engineering students, whose profiles are attractive to many companies. […] Some companies even go so far as to suggest that our students come and work on their project on site. For example, an international industrialist, with whom we have been working for a long time, welcomes our students on site, feeds them and houses them for a week in order to rethink parts of the production lines with them, with a kaizen approach. Total immersion!

Vianney Piron, energy research professor at ENSAM