The POLREC project is a European collaboration between four clusters and a technological centre focused on the sustainable development and recycling of polymer materials. It addresses the scarcity of raw materials in Europe and supports the EU Green Deal goals by promoting circular economy practices.

The aim is to encourage companies in the plastics industry to reduce the environmental impact of their products while respecting Europe’s strategic autonomy in raw materials for polymer production.

Part of the project is intended to encourage companies to change their practices from the landfilling and incineration of plastic waste to the (mechanical or chemical) recycling of polymers into raw materials. POLREC focuses on a wide range of industries: transport and mobility, construction, renewable energies, digital technology and electronics, health, consumer goods and industrial and food packaging. The project emphasizes the need for fully recyclable, high-performance polymers to ensure sustainability and energy efficiency across industries.

The objectives and expected project outcomes are:

  • Creation of a Europe-wide network of SMEs involved in the recycling of polymers.
  • To provide information about existing initiatives/platforms.
  • Development of long-term cooperation between 5 European networks of SMEs
  • Development of services for cluster members in terms of retraining and further education in the field of recycling technologies.
  • Reducing the EU’s dependence on imports of raw materials for polymer production.
  • Strengthening Europe’s position as the main global innovator for a circular plastics industry.
  • Supporting the digital transformation of SMEs
  • Supporting plastics and polymer SMEs in their disruptive development so that they can grow from 6% of the use of secondary raw materials in 2018 to 15% in the medium term (2022/2023) and to 40% at the end of the ten-year period.

Coordinator

EACN Partners

Project partners

Duration09.2022 – 08.2025
Grant agreement101074434
Budget1.391.550 €
CoordinatorCluster POLYMERIS, France

Co-funded by the Single Market Programme of the European Union
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