HORIZON-CL4-2025-05-TWIN-TRANSITION-21-two-stage: Demonstrators for clusters of social circular enterprises (IA)
Updated on 23.06.2025
Social Circular Enterprises (SCEs) need to adapt to new market realities in the circular economy, driven by the search for new market opportunities (e.g. secondary raw materials market, business models addressing change in consumption awareness, and technological developments improving productivity). To achieve this adaptation, investment in R&D capacity and technology for SCEs is essential. Besides further developing its offer towards consumers, SCEs are increasingly focussing their activities towards B2B markets, such as for secondary raw materials. In that regard, SCEs started to explore the growing and labour-intensive market of sorting, recycling and upcycling services for other businesses. Research and innovation can accelerate this potential and is most needed in the area to remain competitive. Moreover, research and innovation in this sector can lever potentials beyond productivity and competitiveness, as SCEs pursue a triple impact: economic, green (contribute to a circular and resource efficient economy) and social (employment of vulnerable groups).
The following outcomes are expected for SCEs and wider circular networks:
- Improve the uptake and scale of technology solutions in individual SCE and promote shared technology development and engineering through SCE clusters.
- Improve competitiveness through enhanced productivity, as well as new market opportunities, for SCEs related to specific waste streams with potential for competitive advantages, such as, textiles, WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) and construction materials;
- Prove technical, economic, and environmental excellence of SCE in (local) circular value chains (e.g. I-US) leading to increased collaboration with (mainstream / for profit) industrial partners;
- Contribute to the reduction of non-recyclable waste generated in the region/area of the cluster by contributing to the re-using and transforming waste, by-products, and sidestreams into new/secondary resources of raw materials;
- Increase employment of persons with a distance to the labour market in SCE and improve their labour productivity, for example by using assistive technology in the work process and use of data (e.g. AI trained assessment and instructions).
Relevance for Circular Systemic Solutions
This call is relevant for cities and regions seeking to research, design, and implement replicable, technology-oriented demonstrators within social circular clusters. Social Circular Enterprises (SCEs) have long been pioneers in advancing circular economy practices.
Actively engaged across all stages of the circular value chain, they manage diverse waste streams while also introducing innovative business models that promote reuse, repair, and resource efficiency. The objective of the call is for partners to jointly adapt, design, test and implement relevant technology solutions within a demonstrator.
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
The following specific activities are expected within demonstrators:
- The demonstrators are supposed to organise as a Social Circular Tech Cluster allowing to pool resources and adapt, develop and test technology solutions;
- A demonstrator consortium should be active in at least two Member States or Associated Countries and can choose to focus on textile and construction waste or WEEE;
- Adapting, designing and developing technologies in SCEs needs should focus on optimising efficiency in management and processing of waste streams and enlarge the potential market activity of SCEs in the circular economy.
Amount of funding
The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 10.00 million. The Commission estimates that an EU contribution of around EUR 5.00 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
