This call focuses on providing a cost-free circular economy advisory service to selected households. It experiments with different behavioural approaches in a scheme of 100 circular households. The call supports the circular economy action plan’s commitment to make circularity work for people, regions and cities, develop a sustainable product policy framework, empower consumers, and focus on areas with high potential.

The first step will be to screen and consolidate all available knowledge on the measurement and calculation of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts from households, with particular attention on the consumption areas mentioned in the call. A simple and robust method for a quick comparison of environmental impacts will be established, using PEF expertise in particular. Proposals shall define the exact scope of demonstration projects, for example to transform X households in Y Member States into model circularity/sustainability cells, with a focus on a limited number of material flows, and set reduction benchmarks that are ambitious and plausible.

The second step will be to establish a support service directly targeted at citizens. Similar to energy advisory services, material efficiency advisors will contact households and identify individual needs and optimisation potential. This can build on the infrastructure of the CCRI and other projects that operate at a macro level, and on ongoing environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO) advisory activities. The advisors will be the link between retailers, service providers, insurers etc., and where necessary public services and administration and households. All proposed measures need to be easy to implement and at least cost-neutral for households. Measures will range from environmentally friendly purchasing, shared product use, swaps to optimised maintenance, upgrade, repair, down to waste disposal. In the context of the advisory service, issues to be addressed include the financing of significant expenses that can be a barrier to transition at household level, and amortisation issues. The aim is also to debunk the notion that sustainable living is a privilege of the wealthy.

The third step will be to analyse and present results in a robust way that allows multiplication both through media initiatives and on the ground, via public authorities or directly by individual actors who want to replicate and implement successful circular measures in their remit.

This topic is open to any legal entity based in EU Member States and Associated Countries; often, cooperation between at least three parties from three different countries is required (at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries).

With regard to territorial aspects of all solutions, proposals should contribute to the goals and cooperate with the services of the CCRI. Joint activities with CCRI projects are encouraged.

The activities in the project are expected to achieve technology readiness level 6-8 by the end of the project.

For more information, please see the work programme, call text and call documents.

Successful proposals are expected to contribute to the Horizon Europe Destination ‘Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors (2023/24)’. This Destination and its topics target climate-neutrality, zero pollution, and fair and just circular and bioeconomy transitions. Successful proposals will contribute to the following Destination impacts:
 

• accelerate regional, rural, local/urban and consumer-based transitions, and
• improve on consumer and citizen benefits.

Areas to be addressed include, for example, household electronics, textiles, food, packaging and the respective waste, furniture, housing, and modes of consumption in general, at the level of individual behavioural decisions. The feasibility of this approach should be demonstrated in pilots with NGOs and civil society organisations that directly target transformation in a certain number of individual households.

Social and gender aspects are also relevant. Proposals should demonstrate how sustainable products and/or services can better meet the real needs of citizens with regard to entertainment, communication, mobility and housing, among other aspects, and how in return this will positively influence consumer behaviour.

More broadly, project results are expected to contribute to:
 

• significant, well-documented increase in material efficiency in participating households;
• significant reduction of emissions of greenhouse gas and other pollutants, including micro- and nanoplastic fibres from covered households, and increase of carbon removals;
• improvement of living conditions in participating households;
• multiplier effect regarding the replication of the approach and its benefits; leading by example;
• lessons learnt for a European rollout strategy and integration with sectoral strategies such as the CCRI.

More information about other requirements for circular systemic solutions can be found in the text of the call.

The total indicative budget for the topic is €18 million. The indicative number of grants is three.

1. The European Commission publishes the call for proposals on the Funding and Tenders Portal.
2. The call is open for a typical period of around five months, during which applicants can submit their proposal.
3. Horizon Europe calls can be single or two-stage application processes. In this case, the call is a single-stage process. This requires a structured proposal of max. 45 pages to be filled in, including objectives and innovation approach (excellence), tangible impacts that can be achieved through the project (impact) and the project planning and tasks (quality). These documents are to be uploaded to the portal in pdf format alongside administrative information on the beneficiaries, affiliated entities or others, to be filled in on the portal. All participants need to possess a Participant Identification Code (PIC number, a 9-digit number registered on ECAS). For more information, please see the work programme and the call documents.
4. Proposals submitted within the deadline will be evaluated by experts against evaluation criteria.
5. Winning proposals will be invited to sign a grant agreement with the Commission.

Planned opening date: 22 December 2022

Deadline date: 28 March 2023, 17.00 Brussels time