Organization

NORNER RESEARCH AS

Norwegian polymer research centre specializing in plastics recycling, sustainable packaging formulation, and CO2 valorization technologies.

Research instituteenvironmentNO

H2020 projects

As coordinator

Total EC funding

€3.4M

Unique partners

What they do

Their core work

Norner Research is a Norwegian polymer and plastics research centre specializing in material formulation, compounding, and recycling technologies. They develop solutions for making plastic packaging recyclable or biodegradable, removing hazardous substances from recycled plastics, and converting industrial CO2 into platform chemicals. Their practical expertise spans the full polymer lifecycle — from bio-based material development and smart additive formulation through to end-of-life recycling and circular economy design.

Core expertise

What they specialise in

Polymer recycling and circular plasticsprimary

4 projects

Central theme across TERMINUS (multilayer recycling), NONTOX (hazardous substance removal from WEEE/ELV/CDW plastics), MANDALA (single-polymer packaging transition), and REVOLUTION (ELV polymer recovery).

Sustainable packaging materialsprimary

3 projects

TERMINUS, MANDALA, and NONTOX all address packaging multilayers, biodegradable polymers, and bio-based adhesives for recyclable packaging design.

Polymer formulation and compoundingprimary

3 projects

TERMINUS involves smart additives and polymer formulation; NONTOX addresses safe handling and flame retardant removal; MANDALA works on biobased adhesive formulation.

Ecodesign and life-cycle analysissecondary

3 projects

Ecodesign appears in both early and recent keywords; TERMINUS includes life-cycle analysis, REVOLUTION references cradle-to-cradle methodology.

Industrial biotechnology and CO2 utilizationemerging

1 project

PYROCO2 — their largest project (EUR 1.14M) — focuses on microbial conversion of industrial CO2 via gas fermentation and chemical catalysis to produce acetone.

Evolution & trajectory

How they've shifted over time

Early focus

Polymer formulation and recycling

Recent focus

Circular economy and CO2 valorization

Norner's early H2020 work (2019) concentrated on polymer formulation fundamentals — smart additives, bio-based polymers, enzyme-based recycling of multilayer packaging, and hazardous substance removal. By 2021, their focus shifted decisively toward circular economy systems thinking, with projects addressing full end-of-life recovery (REVOLUTION) and industrial decarbonization through CO2 conversion (PYROCO2). The progression shows a clear move from material-level R&D toward system-level sustainability and industrial decarbonization.

Norner is expanding from traditional plastics expertise into carbon capture utilization and industrial biotechnology, positioning themselves at the intersection of polymer science and decarbonization.

Collaboration profile

How they like to work

Role: specialist_contributorReach: European19 countries collaborated

Norner participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never coordinating — suggesting they contribute deep technical expertise rather than project management. With 73 unique partners across 19 countries in just 5 projects, they consistently join large, diverse consortia (averaging ~15 partners per project). This pattern indicates they are a sought-after specialist that established consortia recruit for polymer and materials testing capabilities.

Norner has built a broad European network spanning 73 partners across 19 countries through 5 projects — a notably high partner-to-project ratio indicating involvement in large multinational consortia. Their network likely concentrates in Western and Northern European industrial and academic polymer research hubs.

Why partner with them

What sets them apart

Norner bridges the gap between polymer chemistry research and industrial-scale plastics processing — they understand both the science of material formulation and the practical realities of compounding, recycling, and manufacturing. Their combination of packaging recyclability expertise with emerging CO2-to-chemicals capability is rare among European research centres. For consortium builders, they offer a reliable Norwegian partner with hands-on polymer testing and formulation infrastructure that can validate lab concepts at pilot scale.

Notable projects

Highlights from their portfolio

PYROCO2
Largest project by far (EUR 1.14M) and a strategic pivot — marks Norner's expansion from plastics recycling into industrial CO2 conversion and biotechnology.
TERMINUS
Showcases Norner's core polymer expertise: enzyme-triggered recycling of multilayer packaging with bio-based polymer and smart additive development.
REVOLUTION
Combines circular economy with electric vehicle end-of-life recovery and machine learning for material design — an unusual cross-sector application of polymer expertise.

Cross-sector capabilities

Manufacturing — polymer compounding and formulation for industrial applicationsFood & Agriculture — sustainable food packaging materials and recyclable multilayersTransport — end-of-life vehicle polymer recovery and recycled automotive plasticsEnergy — CO2 utilization and industrial decarbonization via chemical conversion

Analysis note: Five projects provide a solid basis for profiling. All projects cluster tightly around polymer/plastics sustainability, giving high confidence in the expertise assessment. PYROCO2 represents a clear strategic expansion but with only one project in that direction, the biotechnology/CCU capability should be considered emerging rather than established.