A 13-strong European consortium has secured 1.5 Million Euros of EU funding to integrate engineering processing and materials technologies for the European automotive sector. The research is part funded by the European Commission under the Framework Seven (FP7) reasearch funding programme. The partners include 3 RTD platforms, 6 SME's and 4 SME associations/groupes.

Rotomoulding is a relatively undeveloped technology in comparison with injection moulding and blow moulding. There is a large scope for step-change advancement in the automation of the process with the moderate investment in the ROTOFLEX system. There are fundamental technological problems faced that will be overcome via ROTOFLEX that will advance rotational moulding into a cost-effective alternative to blow moulding, thermoforming, and injection moulding, and drive the international competitiveness of EU SMEs into value-added markets such as aerospace, furniture, and automotive.

The EU rotational moulding sector uses 1.7 TWh of energy each year and therefore reducing energy consumption by 20%, through improving cycle times, will result in a saving of €30M. The Kyoto protocol aims to cut CO2 emissions by ~10% by 2012 and 50% by 2050. It is estimated that across the EU 750 kilotonnes of CO2 are emitted each year due to rotational moulding. Reduced energy usage gives a proportionate environmental impact.