The Plastipolis research cluster (Oyonnax / France; www.plastipolis.fr) in the heart of France’s “Plastics Valley” recently received funding assurance for 10 new projects. The country’s only plastics engineering cluster is to receive a total of EUR 20m, about 11% of the total state funding available for the 48 industry clusters in France.

The biggest Plastipolis project is “Con-Pro-MI”, which is to receive over EUR 8m. The project, whose goal is to advance the development of micro injection moulding, is headed by automotive supplier A Raymond (Grenoble / France; www.araymond.com). Other projects include “Acosite” (thermosets based on renewable raw materials), “Hobbit” (new materials for medical implants) and “Ecopoly” (recycling of composite plastics films).

Plastipolis represents 150 converters in the Rhone-Alpes and Franche-Comté regions, 90% of them small and mid-sized firms. Together they make up around one-third of the French plastics processing industry. The cluster also includes eight development centres and an extensive range of training activities. The member firms employ 33,000 workers and record sales of around EUR 8 bn.