ENCO SRL

Their core work

ENCO is a Naples-based consulting SME specializing in circular economy, waste valorization, and sustainable food systems across EU-funded innovation projects. They bring expertise in life cycle assessment, business model development, and technology transfer — bridging the gap between research results and market application. Their work spans food preservation technologies, plastics recycling, wastewater treatment, and critical raw materials, consistently focusing on turning waste streams into economic value. They support consortia with exploitation planning, dissemination, and techno-economic feasibility analysis.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), ENCO focused heavily on water and waste: wastewater treatment, algae production, biofuels from waste, and secondary raw materials data management. From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted decisively toward food systems and advanced recycling — food preservation, agri-food value chains, urban food planning, multilayer packaging recycling, and bio-based materials. The transition shows a consulting firm that moved from broad environmental resource management to a sharper focus on the food-packaging-circularity nexus.

ENCO is converging on the intersection of sustainable food systems and circular packaging materials — expect them to pursue projects combining food waste reduction with recyclable or compostable packaging solutions.

How they like to work

ENCO operates overwhelmingly as a consortium partner (16 of 18 projects), with only two coordinator roles — indicating they are valued for their specialized contributions rather than project leadership. With 319 unique partners across 30 countries, they have an exceptionally broad network for an SME of their size, suggesting they are a well-connected and trusted player in EU project ecosystems. Their even split between RIA and IA projects (7 each) plus 4 CSAs shows versatility across research, demonstration, and coordination support activities.

ENCO has collaborated with 319 different organizations across 30 countries, an unusually wide network for a small Italian consultancy. This pan-European reach, built through consistent participation in large consortia, makes them a strong connector for anyone seeking partners in Southern Europe or across the food-environment sector boundary.

What sets them apart

ENCO sits at the rare intersection of food technology and circular economy consulting — most firms specialize in one or the other. Their ability to contribute across the full chain from food preservation to packaging recycling to waste valorization makes them a versatile partner for projects that span multiple sustainability themes. For consortium builders, their 319-partner network and 30-country reach means they can also help identify and recruit additional partners.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SHEALTHY
  Their largest project (EUR 720K) and one of only two they coordinated — focused on an impressive range of non-thermal food preservation technologies including ultrasound, plasma, and pulsed electric fields.
• MERLIN
  Addresses the technically challenging problem of recycling multilayer packaging through chemical delamination and sorting — a critical bottleneck in packaging circularity.
• SMART GROUND
  Their first coordinator role, building a data platform for secondary raw materials — revealing their early ambition in data-driven resource management.