PLASTICS RECYCLERS EUROPE

Their core work

Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) is the European trade association representing companies that recycle plastic materials across the value chain. Their role in EU research projects is not laboratory work — they provide the industrial bridge: market knowledge, sector reach, regulatory insight, and dissemination pathways into the plastics recycling industry. In the TERMINUS project they contributed industry validation and uptake pathways for a technically complex innovation (enzyme-triggered recycling of multilayer packaging). In NEW_InnoNet they participated as an industry voice in shaping near-zero waste innovation priorities. Any consortium that includes PRE gains direct access to Europe's plastics recycling sector and a credible route from research output to industrial adoption.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (2015–2017), PRE engaged at the broad policy and network level — a CSA focused on European waste innovation with no sector-specific technical keywords attached. By their second project (2019–2023), the focus had sharpened considerably: TERMINUS is a research-intensive RIA addressing a specific technical bottleneck (enzyme-triggered separation of multilayer plastics) with a dense keyword profile spanning enzymes, smart additives, polymer compounding, and bio-based materials. This trajectory suggests PRE moved from broad circular economy networking toward deep technical engagement with the actual barriers facing recyclers — specifically the problem of complex, hard-to-separate packaging structures that contaminate recycling streams.

PRE is moving toward technically specific research partnerships where their value is industry validation and uptake of solutions to concrete recycling barriers — particularly packaging complexity and bio-based material compatibility.

How they like to work

PRE has never led an H2020 project — both participations are as a partner, which is typical for a trade association whose value lies in sector reach rather than research capacity. They work within larger consortia (26 distinct partners across both projects), consistent with the multi-actor structure of RIA and CSA projects that need both technical and industry voices. For a potential partner, this means PRE brings the industrial network and dissemination clout, not the lab work — making them most valuable in projects that need a route from prototype to sector-wide adoption.

PRE has collaborated with 26 distinct partners spanning 12 countries, a broad European footprint for only two projects. This reflects their position as a sector association whose network naturally draws in partners from across the EU plastics and packaging value chain.

What sets them apart

PRE is not a research institution — they are the organized voice of the European plastics recycling industry, which is precisely what makes them valuable in an EU project context. Where universities provide technical proof-of-concept, PRE provides the sector-level credibility, the industrial contacts, and the policy leverage needed to turn research into adopted practice. For consortia building projects on recycling, packaging, or circular economy topics, PRE's participation signals genuine industry buy-in rather than token dissemination.

Highlights from their portfolio

• TERMINUS
  The largest and most technically ambitious of PRE's two projects, targeting the hard-to-recycle multilayer packaging problem with enzyme-triggered delamination — a direct match to the core challenge of the sector PRE represents.
• NEW_InnoNet
  PRE's entry into H2020 as part of a European waste innovation coordination network, establishing their early role in EU-level circular economy research collaboration.