AUTO-TWIN is a European research initiative that uses Digital Twin technology to make product reuse and recycling smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable. By creating digital replicas of real-world products and systems, it provides businesses with the insights needed to optimize performance and support circular economy goals.
The project’s goals
Running from December 2022 to November 2025, AUTO-TWIN is supported by the Horizon Europe program and brings together 13 partners from eight countries. The project focuses on automating the creation of Digital Twins, enabling companies to adopt them without requiring deep technical expertise or manual effort. It also aims to develop a secure, standardized system for seamless data sharing across supply chains—an essential step for enabling cross-industry collaboration and sustainable innovation.
To achieve these goals, AUTO-TWIN integrates a powerful combination of advanced technologies. Process mining and AI are used to automate the creation and continuous adaptation of Digital Twins based on real-time production dynamics. Blockchain secures the circular digital thread, enabling tamper-proof tracking and transparent collaboration across the value chain. Explainable AI improves human-machine collaboration by making automated decisions more transparent and trustworthy. In addition, intelligent profiling tools identify workforce skill gaps and guide targeted upskilling, ensuring that people remain at the center of digital transformation.
The use cases
AUTO-TWIN addresses key technical challenges by developing a process-aware discovery method that automatically generates reliable Digital Twins across circular value chains, such as battery cell reuse, PET recycling, and medical-device sterilization. It also establishes a common data environment based on International Data Spaces to enable secure and standardized information exchange among supply chain partners. To support real-time, eco-conscious decision-making, the project introduces smart Green Gateways—hardware-enabled nodes that connect physical operations with the digital thread.
These innovations are being tested and refined through three industrial pilots.
In Switzerland, LIBATTION focuses on battery cell reuse, implementing cloud-connected platforms and Green Gateways.
GR3N explores advanced PET recycling, feeding process data into the Digital Twin ecosystem.
Meanwhile, CROMA applies the AUTO-TWIN framework to sterile medical-device workflows in hospitals, enhancing circular economy processes in the healthcare sector.
