In last January, Dr Eleni Heracleous from CPERI/CERTH was invited to give an interview on the daily talk show O3 produced by a Greek national channel. She was also invited to give an interview during the news bulletin and in a radio show. During all these interviews, Dr. Heracleous presented and described the overall concept of the project: when tyres are dismounted from vehicles, they become part-worn tyres or end-of-life tyres (ELT). The part-worn tyre is reusable as a second-hand purchase directly or after reprocessing. The ELT is a non-reusable tyre; it enters a waste management system based on product/material recycling, energy recovery or it goes to landfill. Thus, the main objective of the BlackCycle project is to create, develop, and optimize a full value chain from ELT feedstock to Secondary Raw Materials (SRMs), with no waste of resources in any part of the chain and a specific attention for the environmental impact, reducing CO2 emission compared to conventional waste management, especially compared to incineration.
The O3 program focuses on environmental issues, climate change, circular economy, innovation, research, and technology. It basically highlights and present in a comprehensible way what is happening today to ensure a better tomorrow for the planet and society.
Dr Eleni Heracleous is a Collaborating Faculty Member in CPERI/CERTH and an Assistant Professor at the International Hellenic University in Energy Systems. She is active in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, with focus on the development of catalysts and processes for CO and CO2 hydrogenation to methanol and higher alcohols, selective oxidation of alkanes to olefins and conversion of biomass and biomass-derivatives to high quality fuels. She received her PhD in 2005 from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on catalyst development for light alkane valorisation. From 2005-2008, she worked in Shell Global Solutions in Hamburg, gaining experience on biofuel product development. Since 2008, she has been working in CPERI/CERTH on various national and EU projects with focus on the development, characterization and testing of catalysts for the synthesis of 2nd generation biofuels from CO hydrogenation and the upgrading of biomass-derived intermediates. She is the author of over 50 publications in high impact refereed journals (>1200 heterocitations, h-index 19) and over 100 presentations in national and international conferences.