HORIZON-CL4-2025-05-TWIN-TRANSITION-35-two-stage: Developing and embedding upcycling technologies into viable business (Processes4Planet partnership) (IA)
Updated on 23.06.2025
Energy Intensive industries will benefit from the following outcomes:
- Prove the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of the upcycling of end-oflife waste materials by process industries in integrated circular schemes – including for supplying the value chains of net zero technologies and components;
- Enable doubling the ratio of secondary raw materials upcycled leading to a significant increase in resource, including energy efficiency and improved carbon lifecycle across the value chain compared to present levels;
- Increase the competitiveness of the European process industry, including by providing new business opportunities and revenue flows for recycling companies benefiting particularly SMEs – including for supplying the value chains of net zero technologies and components;
- Foster the use of digital tools as well as the data sharing, and FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability) digital assets principles.
- As appropriate in one or more projects, contribute to the reconstruction, recovery, circularity and upgrading of industries of Ukraine.
Relevance for Circular Systemic Solutions
This call is relevant for cities and regions aiming to develop and embed upcycling technologies into viable and scalable business models. Transforming end-of-life materials into high-value products that can substitute primary raw materials requires the creation of fully integrated systems, spanning from efficient collection and dismantling to advanced separation and final material processing.
To be effective, these systems must be addressed holistically. Projects supported under this call should not only focus on the technological aspects of upcycling but also consider the practical implementation of such circular schemes, including logistics and economics.
Applicant criteria
Any type of organisation can apply for Horizon Europe funding as long as they have the operational and financial capacity to carry out the tasks that they propose. For most calls for proposals, you must apply as a team of at least 3 partner organisations from 3 different EU or associated countries. At least one of the 3 partners must be from an EU country. In addition to these 3 partners, organisations from other countries might be able to join your consortium.
More information in the Horizon Europe programme guide. Further details or exceptions are listed on the pages of the call topics in the Funding & tenders portal.
Eligible projects/themes
Proposals should: Develop processes for the upcycling of end-of-life materials in an integrated way, including the development of better novel separation, sorting and processing technologies as well as digitalisation and automation of the processes as necessary; Integration of technologies and logistics systems into business models of circular schemes; Focus on processes and secondary raw materials which offer the highest additional upcycling potential and accordingly develop novel upcycling technologies and processes including purification technologies; Identify the likely impacts of the upcycling solutions with respect to economic and job creation potential, as well as environmental footprint referring to the full set of planetary boundaries including freshwater intake aspects; Where relevant, minimise the presence of substances of concern to mitigate the impacts of multiple recycling loops as well as the accumulation of additives and trace materials in secondary resource streams; Consider advanced monitoring and sensing along the value chains and improved data completeness, accuracy and interoperability between the process and recycling companies. In this context, digital tools, such as a Digital Product Passport for tracking and tracing of materials throughout the lifecycle of a product should be applied and data sharing should be addressed.
Amount of funding
The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 48.00 million. The Commission estimates that an EU contribution of between EUR 8.00 and 12.00 million would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of a proposal requesting different amounts.
Application process
- EC publishes calls for proposals on the funding and tenders portal
- The call is open for an usual period of ca. 5 months where applicants can submit they proposal
- Proposals can be single or two-stage application processes. A single stage application process requires the filling in of a structured proposal of max. 45 pages including objectives and innovation approach (excellence), tangible impacts that can be achieved through the project (impact) and the project planning and tasks (quality). If a two stage, the aforementioned would be the second stage application while the first is a simplified proposal of max 10 pages including only excellence and impact sections. These documents are to be uploaded to the portal in pdf format alongside filling in the respective parts of the portal with administrative information on the beneficiares, affiliated entities or others. All participants in a project need to possess a Partipant Identification Code (i.e. PIC number, a 9-digit number registered on ECAS). For more information, please see the work programme and the call documents.
- Proposal submitted within the deadline will be evaluated by experts against evaluation criteria.
- Winning proposals will be invited for signing a grant agreement with the EC.
Deadlines
Opening: 22 May 2025
Deadlines: 23 Sep 2025 (First Stage), 14 Apr 2026 (Second Stage)
<5 000
large 500 000-200 000, medium 200 000-50 000, and small cities 50 000-5 000
large metropolitan area >1.5 million, metropolitan area 1.5 million-500 000
predominantly urban regions, intermediate and predominantly rural regions, refer to TERCET typology NUTS 3 region
e.g. commercial, residential, service, industrial
