POLREC Open Call for Internationalisation of Polymer/Elastomer recycling SMEs
The POLREC (Supporting a green and resilient Europe through POLymer RECycling) eurcolusters project has published its Internationalisation Open Call. The Call is open on 22 March 2024 and will close on 22 May 2024 at 12:00 am CET. To submit their application, applicants are invited to create an account and log into the POLREC: Internationalisation Open Call – Cluster Submission Platform.
Objectives of the call :
The call provides financial support to SMEs working in the field of polymers & elastomers industries. It aims to facilitate SMEs internationalisation strategy by supporting their participation to business fairs and networking conferences in Europe (Networking sub-grant) and to an international match-making mission organised in Quebec, Canada (Match-making mission sub-grant), in relation to Polymer recycling solutions (mechanical, chemical and digital).
Activities funded :
1. Networking sub-grant:
Rewarded applicants will obtain support on the attendance to European business and trade fairs, conferences, exhibitions, forums and any other type of networking events for a maximum budget of 1.500 EUR per SME with a maximum overall budget of 52.900 EUR, first come first serve. Up to 50 applicants will be rewarded.
To be selected for funding the SMEs should send in the date, venue, link to the networking event and their reason for attending. The events should take place before the 1rst of July 2025. The following activities are eligible for this sub-grant:
- The attendance to business/trade fairs & exhibitions in the EU
- The attendance to conferences, conventions and forums in the EU
- The participation in matchmaking events
A list of identified events can be found in POLREC “Guide for applicants” available on the POLREC: Internationalisation Open Call – Cluster Submission Platform.
The lump-sum will be attributed according to the number of days spent by the applicant at the event: for a 1-day attendance, the lump-sum will be 500 EUR, for a 2-day attendance: 1,000 EUR and for a 3-day attendance: 1,500€. A day is considered a full day of 6-8 hours of meetings, networking and visiting stands in a trade fair.
2. International match-making mission sub-topic:
Rewarded applicants will obtain support for participating to a 5-days match-making mission on innovative Polymer-recycling solutions organised by the POLREC consortium from the 3rd to the 7th of February 2025, in Quebec, Canada for a budget of 3600 EUR per SME, with an overall budget of 150 000EUR. Up to 41 applicant will be rewarded.
To be selected for funding the SMEs should explain their interest to participate to an exploratory and match-making mission on Polymer-recycling solutions in Canada. The SMEs should demonstrate that they are developing, or plan to develop, projects around polymer-recycling solutions and that their participation to an exploratory & match-making mission on the Canadian market will be of added-value for their activity.
Call duration
The call will open from 22nd March 2024 until 22nd May 2024 12:00 CET. A second cut off for this sub-topic could be organized optionally in January 2025 for the Networking sub-grant, depending on the remaining budget available and the number of applications received under the first cut-off. No second cut-off for the International Macth-making mission sub-grant will be organised.
Eligibility conditions and sectors
Applicant must be a SME located in one of the Single Market Programme (SMP) associated countries
- EU Member States
- Other countries which participate in SMP Work Programme/COSME Strand (Link : https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/smp/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_smp_en.pdf)
The SMEs targeted by this call can cover various sectors, such as: transport and mobility, construction, renewable energy, digital and electronics, health, consumer goods, industrial and food packaging. They should be implementing or planning to implement or improve solutions for the recycling of industrial polymer waste (For example: SMEs generating plastic or rubber waste and looking for a recycling process to recycle their waste, SME recyclers, SMEs working on the development of recycling technologies).
Additional information
Every eligible proposal will go though an evaluation process carried out by 2 POLREC partners.
Networking sub-grant : Proposals will be scored on a total of 16 points based on the following criteria : (I) Network, (II) Relevance of the event, (III) Relevance of stakeholders
International Matchmaking mission sub-grant : Proposals will be scored on a total of 20 points based on the following criteria : (I) Relevance of SME activities in Polymer recycling, (II)Strategical preparedness for internationalisation, (III) Organisational capacity and capability for internationalisation, (IV) Relevance of the project/interest of the SME for Canada.
For any further information, please refers to the presentation of the POLREC Internationalisation Open Call and the Guide for Applicant, available on the Clusters Submission Platform, after loggin into your account.
COSME