The Cluster providing a full range of services for waste management throughout Poland, in most EU countries and outside EU.
The Cluster is an ecosystem of entities related to waste management and recycling undertaking the long-term cooperation to create a competitive offer of recycled products and raw materials. It supports companies in the transformation towards closed circuits, proper management and change in the perception of waste and by-products.
The core of the Cluster are Polish SMEs, involved in the collection, removal, processing, recovery, recycling and transport of waste, manufacturers of machinery, equipment and technological lines for processing, recycling and disposal of waste, producers using recycled materials.
The Cluster specialises in the domains of plastics recycling, non-ferrous metals recycling, tires recycling and energy from waste.
Support is provided by scientific institutions, R&D centers as well as companies and institutions dealing with business support. The Cluster provides the following services:
- grant, investment, product and marketing consultancy,
- economic, environmental and market analyses,
- project documents (applications, business plans, feasibility studies),
- cross-industry cooperation and technology transfer.
- building project consortia, joint projects and action strategies,
- purchasing and sales processes,
- Recycling Academy - a proprietary program dedicated to the professional development of the industry.
Activities are designed by the Cluster Industry Working Groups based on the Cluster Development Strategy for 2019-2024
Resources needed
The organization includes departments led by representatives of associated organizations: Development and Recycling of Plastics, Development of the Cluster's Commercial Offer, Tire Development and Recycling, Waste Energy, Ecological Education. The Council of Experts is the advisory body.
Evidence of success
Cluster supports a number of initiatives, including internationalization, new value chains by the development of specific industries (MINE THE GAP and GreenofShoreTech/INNOSUP/H2020) and short supply chains in agri-food (GO Pro), pro-innovative services in circular economy (ClusterLab), Digitalization of the Cluster (KlasterBOX).
Difficulties encountered
The main challenge was to gain the trust of SMEs and show them the benefits of using cluster services and collaborating with other actors (KET providers, joining other value chains, etc.). The approach was focused on presenting best practices and future benefits.
Potential for learning or transfer
Cluster cooperates with other clusters, business organisations and R&D institutions from different value chains. It creates pro-innovative environment. SMEs gain access to good solutions from partners, are able to transfer good practices form different business fields, to find new opportunity for improvement their activity and development products and service and use new technology.
The main lesson is that it is important to create open environment for different actors from many institutions and representing a number of different competences. In this environment SMEs can develop their businesses using the cluster support.
Tags: Circular economy, Cluster, Digitalisation, Reuse of waste
