New partnerships of industry clusters and SMEs, hundreds of business meetings and established contacts, letters of intent and cooperation agreements - this is how the European REC-N-COMP project carried out over the last 2.5 years can be summarized.

REC-N-COMP is an international consortium that supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in the area of circular materials and recycling of textile, wooden and composite raw materials. It is a partnership of five European clusters from complementary industries from four European countries: France, Belgium, Italy and Poland.

The last two years have been extremely intense for REC-N-COMP. Visits to the USA, Japan and Singapore (three markets where REC-N-COMP supports the development of SMEs), exchange of experiences, establishment of new business contacts, signing of letters of intent and partnership agreements are the most important effects appreciated by all project participants.

Japan is one of three countries hosting REC-N-COMP beneficiaries. Even though the goals of the participating companies and the industries they represented were diverse, entrepreneurs unanimously emphasize the substantive value of the meetings. For the French company Extractive, the visit to the company, which is one of the main producers of carbon fibers in the world, was extremely valuable.

The Polish company TC3 manufacturing ultra-light and high-strength multi-layer composites, also participated in the mission to Japan. “The organizer's attention to detail ensured a seamless experience, allowing us to focus on the primary objective of exploring opportunities in Japan's composites market. This mission has undoubtedly accelerated our global expansion efforts and positioned us for future success in the Japanese or European market. I’m thoroughly impressed by the professionalism and effectiveness demonstrated throughout the entire event." says Ewa Witoń-Morgiewicz from TC3.

REC-N-COMP project participants also positively evaluate the mission to the USA. For the French company Recyc'Elit active in chemical recycling of plastics and textile, the visit to this country gave a good overview of their potential on the American market and start cooperation with one of the American companies. At the same time another participant of this mission – the Italian company Manifattura Maiano SpA, designing and producing felts, waddings and insulations, obtained an order for a nonwoven fabric.

The representative of Belgian company Plastic Science by Design, developing technical additives for polymer processing, summarizes the mission to Singapore as follows: "The Singapore trip gave me some insights on what more is needed to become part of an environmental solution by extending to material science instead of Plastic Science”. The Italian company Frag – a leather furniture manufacturer, values especially the market information and facilitation of relevant contacts obtained during the Singapore mission.

As part of REC-N-COMP, since September 2021, 22 enterprises from Poland, Italy, France and Belgium have received financial and substantive support. The culmination of the project was a two-day event "From waste to WOW", organized on February 22 and 23, 2024 at the Circular Materials Center in the Belgian city of Kortrijk. The meeting gathered around 65 participants and included numerous presentations and case studies. The Project Officer Valentino Izzo gave a speech in which he pointed out new programmes (Euroclusters II call) that can be promising for the development of new European projects by clusters. In addition, success stories of the participants in the REC-N-COMP international missions and other testimonies of the companies working in the field of composites and recycled materials were presented during the event.

It was also an opportunity for networking and study visits to companies with extensive experience in the circular economy. The event was accompanied by a "micro-fair" during which circular products and solutions were presented.

REC-N-COMP is a partnership of 5 European clusters from complementary industries, representing 4 countries:

• NEXT TECHNOLOGY TECNOTESSILE from Italy (project leader – textile industry),
• TECHTERA from France (textile industry),
• LEGNO ARREDO cluster from Italy (wooden, construction and furniture industries),
• FLANDERS MAKE from Belgium (industrial process industry) and
• POLISH AUTOMOTIVE GROUP from Poland (automotive parts industry).

The project started in September 2021 and ends in March 2024. It is co-financed by the European Union COSME program.