The HOOP project aims to unlock urban circular bioeconomy projects and establish local bio-economies in eight European cities and regions (referred to as Lighthouses, or LHs) by providing Project Development Assistance (PDA) and tools to overcome these barriers. The projects focus on the material valorisation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and urban wastewater sludge (UWWS) into high added-value products beyond compost and biogas. The PDA will be tailored for each LH, encompassing technical, environmental, economic, and legal assistance, and will include customised circular business models and financing mechanisms to mobilise investment.

Additionally, HOOP will launch stakeholder engagement and citizen science initiatives to raise awareness, promote behavioural change, and increase acceptance of biowaste-based products. The project will also disseminate good practices and lessons learned through the development of online platforms (the Urban Circular Bioeconomy Hub and Virtual Academy) and tools. HOOP will further promote replicability by creating the HOOP Network of Cities and Regions – a platform for exchanging knowledge and experiences about urban circular bioeconomy among cities and regions across Europe, which will include participation in webinars, activities, and events.

CETENMA (Asociacion Empresarial Centro Tecnologico De La Energia y Del Medio Ambiente De La Region De Murcia), Spain

Albano-Laziale, Almere, Kuopio, Münster and Murcia

Western Macedonia, Greater Porto, Bergen

Scope: Unlock bio-based investments and deploy local bio-economies in Europe. This mainly refers to projects focused on the material valorisation of urban biowaste and wastewater sludge, beyond composting and anaerobic digestion.

HOOP objectives:

• Provide PDAs to eight Lighthouses (LHs) geographically distributed across Europe, varying in size and socio-economic structures, acting as demonstrators for a network of cities and regions. The PDAs will deliver technical, economic, legal, feasibility, and business assistance for implementing projects that valorise OFMSW and UWWS to produce high added-value bio-based materials. Core PDA activities will bridge the gap between local Circular Economy Strategies and the concrete investments needed for project launch and implementation, including required procurement processes.
• Create and consolidate a procurer group that pools needs and efforts to establish a new EU market, breaking down barriers to the adoption of innovative products and services in the field of OFMSW, UWWS, and bio-based products.
• Promote engagement of quadruple-helix stakeholders through Biowaste Clubs (BCs) in the LHs. HOOP will initiate actions to ensure stakeholder and community mobilisation. Various engagement activities will be launched at each LH through the BCs to involve all key local actors along the biowaste value chain and address any barriers to local uptake of projects developed under the HOOP framework. These activities might include the co-design and implementation of effective OFMSW collection systems. At the same time, BC activities will promote behavioural change, acceptability of biowaste-based products, and food waste prevention.
• Ensure high impact through project replicability by: 1) creating an extensive network of cities and regions, and 2) encouraging them to replicate HOOP actions and results to enhance their Circular Economy Strategies. Each city or region will be matched to an LH, depending on its specific Circular Economy Strategies, size, and socio-economic context, to further promote the adoption of HOOP results.
• Establish the Urban Circular Bioeconomy Hub (UCBH) as an online platform to showcase the results of HOOP and other ongoing Urban Biowaste projects, promote replicability, and facilitate the exchange of good practices and lessons learned among circular bio-based cities. The UCBH will include self-assessment tools, a virtual academy, HOOP evaluation and decision-making tools, and will manage membership for the network of cities and regions. It will also expand HOOP’s engagement capacity with actions targeted at quadruple-helix stakeholders.
• Develop the HOOP Circularity Label as a tool to assess cities’ current positions and performance in implementing circular measures at the city level. Additionally, it will serve as a foundation for efficiently launching green policies and effectively boosting and implementing investment projects for producing urban biowaste- and wastewater-based products.

Technical, environmental, business model, financial, and legal support to cities, regions, and territorial clusters for developing large-scale urban circular bioeconomy projects focused on producing bio-based products from urban biowaste and wastewater.

Public deliverables delivered:

• D2.4 ‘Investment Package Manual’:
  Vol. I – Investment Package Manual Volume I
  Vol. II – Investment Package Manual Volume II
  Vol. III – Investment Package Manual Volume III
• D4.1 Novel Circular Business Models applied in the value chain of biowaste valorisation
• D5.3 Circular Evaluation Framework guidance report – Guidance Report
• D5.5 HOOP Due Diligence Standard – Due Diligence Report
• D6.2 Short explainer video about the Biowaste Clubs – [HOOP | What is a Biowaste Club? – YouTube]
• D6.3 Report on the engagement activities implemented through the Biowaste Clubs in the lighthouse cities – Engagement Report
• D6.4 Outcome reports of the co-designed citizen science interventions – Citizen Science Interventions Report
• D6.5 Report on the education and awareness-raising & acceptance activities – Education and Awareness Report
• D8.3 HOOP guidance for the organisation of National Replication Workshops
• D8.5 HOOP guidelines for local and regional authorities – Guidelines for Authorities

Upcoming public deliverables before the end of HOOP:
 

• D5.7 HOOP Economic impact in the Lighthouse Cities and Regions (March 2025)
•  D7.5 Contribution of HOOP to the circular economy strategies of the lighthouse and follower cities (March 20250
• D8.6 Report on the HOOP Cities Conference (September 2024)
• D8.8 Report on the one-on-one capacity building (March 2025)

We have included the public deliverables with higher relevance for CCRI purposes, based on our understanding. Several public deliverables are scheduled for the final month of the project (March 2024), most of which evaluate the performance of HOOP.

• Gain a thorough understanding of the city or region’s context.
• Ensure fluent communication and trust-building with cities and regions to support the implementation of Circular Systemic Solutions (CSS).
• Assess the circularity status of cities or regions (e.g. through urban metabolism analysis) to evaluate improvement potential and the realism of targets.
• Engage quadruple-helix stakeholders, especially companies.
• Validate data (e.g. standardisation in definitions or units).
• Adopt a tailor-made approach.
• Clearly define project details within the CSS framework.
• Develop the business model.
• Ensure project feasibility across three dimensions: technical, economic, and regulatory.
• Conduct impact monitoring with a multidisciplinary approach.

• Provide input, support, and knowledge to the Thematic Working Groups of the CCRI-CSO (Industrial Symbiosis and Bioeconomy).
• Share knowledge to enable replication of best practices and business models in other regions.
• Contribute PDA methodology as input for CCRI methodology.
• Utilise tools developed by HOOP (e.g. the HOOP Bio-Circularity Label, an instrument to evaluate cities’ current position and performance in implementing circular measures at the city level. This tool will also serve as a baseline to efficiently launch green policies and effectively boost and implement investment projects for producing urban biowaste- and wastewater-based products).
• Participate in CCRI webinars and technical workshops.
• Encourage bioeconomy-focused fellows and possibly pilots to join the HOOP Network, particularly those with a bioeconomy focus.
• Extend invitations to HOOP events (e.g. HOOP Cities Conference, Circular Investors Day).
• Network and collaborate with other CCRI projects.
• Collaborate with policy initiatives (similar to the ROOTS project cluster on biowaste valorisation).

• The HOOP Urban Circular Bioeconomy Hub: An online platform hosting the project’s results and materials, and serving as a framework for networking and learning about urban circular bioeconomy (UCBE)
• The HOOP Network of Cities and Regions
• Evaluation tools in the Hub: ‘Evaluate’
• Technical support and financial matchmaking in the Hub: ‘Request’
• The HOOP Virtual Academy
• The HOOP Dictionary: Key concepts and terms defining the themes and activities of the HOOP project in the field of urban bioeconomy
• Urban Circular Bioeconomy webinar series (organised in collaboration with SCALIBUR, VALUEWASTE, and WAYSTUP!)
• EU Green Week 2021:
  Investment in circular projects: HOOP_How_investors_see_circular_projects
  HOOP Network: Network Green-Week-Event
  New circular business models: Circular business models
• HOOP Lunch talks (available only to cities and regions that are members of the HOOP Network)
• Technology factsheets (available in the HOOP Library and the Virtual Academy)

Some of the bottlenecks identified from the ROOTS initiative (ROOTS) include:

• Lack of specific targets for biowaste recycling;
• Ambiguity in the definitions of by-product and waste, with implications for further applications;
• Lack of specific regulation for biopesticides;
• No targets set for biowaste reduction, other than food waste;
• Regulatory barriers to the application of bioproducts (e.g. insects) derived from biowaste in the nutrition market sector, whether for feed or food;
• Additional regulatory bottlenecks that may arise depending on national, regional, or local policy and the nature of the projects.

More specific bottlenecks include:

• Classification of urban biowaste and used cooking oils as ‘catering waste’, designating it as a Category 3 animal by-product, which imposes numerous restrictions and hindrances for applications such as feed and fertilisers;
• The EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy not promoting innovative circular solutions by establishing a closed list;
• Lack of synchronisation or harmonisation between EU and Member State regulatory frameworks or even between different EU regulatory frameworks (e.g. fertilisers and animal by-products).

Some identified regulatory drivers include:

•  Existence of Circular Economy Action Plans at the municipal or regional level, demonstrating a city's commitment to promoting a circular economy and providing an implementation framework;
• Inclusion of circularity parameters in local and regional policies, serving as a tool for local authorities to support circularity, such as through sustainable events or green public procurement;
• Use of innovation in public procurement;
• Regulation 2019/1009 (fertilisers), acting as an enabler for certain biowaste management technologies;
• Definition of new endpoints for animal by-products under Regulation 2023/1605;
• EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, promoting the transition to a circular economy.

Further information is expected once the National Action Manuals are ready.
 

Various options are available depending on the solution, capital requirements, territory, and nature of the project (such as technology readiness and stakeholders involved). These options include both funding programmes and investors (e.g. venture capital). The EU Taxonomy is a key factor in financing decisions. A detailed description and recommendations can be found in the public version of D2.4 Investment Package Manual, which will be updated soon. The Circular Investors Board (CIB) is an advisory body composed of diverse investor profiles, including the EIB, with expertise in sustainable finance, providing guidance for financial PDA.

The environmental outcomes are assessed through environmental studies for the projects, with LCAs serving as the most suitable tools for evaluating the actual impacts and benefits. An evaluation of the project’s impact in terms of non-financial indicators is expected towards the end of the project.

The project has already generated social impact through citizen participation in Biowaste Clubs (stakeholder engagement), citizen science initiatives, and pilot actions focused on education and awareness-raising. The HOOP Trainers app, developed as part of the citizen science efforts, gathers data on the acceptability and improvement of separate waste collection and raises awareness. The project has also achieved significant impact on social networks, with a high number of followers.

Additionally, the project is creating substantial social impact through its replicability actions. More than 70 cities and regions are already part of the HOOP Network, participating in various webinars and study visits to the Lighthouse Cities and Regions.
 

The economic outcomes of the project will be evaluated closer to its conclusion. The public deliverable D5.7 HOOP Economic Impact in the Lighthouse Cities and Regions will be available in October 2024.
 

The HOOP project has a narrower scope of activity than CSS, as it is focused specifically on bioeconomy projects. The applicability of HOOP’s experiences will largely depend on the proposed CSS in the corresponding CCRI pilot city. Some experiences from HOOP may have potential for transposition to areas beyond bioeconomy. The cities and regions involved in HOOP are receiving assistance through our PDA.

Citizens, industries, decision makers, academia

• Instituto Tecnologico Del Embalaje, Transporte y Logistica, Spain (ITENE)
• Sociedad Anonima Agricultores de la Vega de Valencia, Spain (SAV)
• Draxis Environmental SA, Greece
• Nafigate Corporation, A.S., Czechia
• Fundacion Centro Gallego De Investigaciones Del Agua, Spain (CETAQUA)
• Research4life B.V., Netherlands
• Association Des Villes Et Regions Pour La Gestion Durable Des Ressources, Belgium (ACR+)
• Greenovate ! Europe, Belgium
• Science for Change, SL, Spain
• Sustentepopeia Unipessoal Lda, Portugal (2GO OUT)
• Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production GmbH, Germany (CSCP)
• RdA - Climate Solutions Unipessoal Lda, Portugal
• Bax & Company BV, Netherlands
• Bedin Sara, Italy
• Savonia-Ammattikorkeakoulu Oy, Finland
• BIR AS, Norway
• Gemeente Almere, Netherlands
• ANCI Associazione Regionale Comuni Italiani Lazio, Italy
• Servico Intermunicipalizado De Gestao De Residuos Do Grande Porto, Portugal (LIPOR)
• Cluster Viooikonomias Kai Perivallontos Dytikis Makedonias, Greece (CluBE)
• Ayuntamiento De Murcia, Spain
• Stadt Munster, Germany (AWM)