The outcomes from the WASTE-Cluster at a macro level need to be assessed in the context of the overall policy and strategic objectives of the Commission with respect to the MPCs scientific, technical and innovation priorities as defined in their cooperation agreement and approved by the Joint Committee for the next years.

As the activities of the project partners develop subsequent to the initial assessment being undertaken on their SWOT/SOR positioning, the progress being achieved at project level will have to be monitored and recorded. The project outcomes then can be used as building blocks to portray the activities and effectiveness of the Cluster as a whole. Currently, these activities can not be funded due to a severe lack of support through the individual projects – efforts are ongoing to attract other funding sources to realise the objectives of the cluster and to establish 'synergies' in action with other on-going projects with a similar thematic and ambition.

Due to the already critical mass in number of projects (4) and participants (43), the impact of this clustering activity is awaited to be further enhanced, contributing to a higher visibility of the individual partners/projects, leading to a better integration of the participants from the MPCs into the ERA and enabling them to prepare more and better proposals to enhance their participation under FP7.