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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant aims to significantly increase the supply security and access to critical and strategic raw materials for EU industrial value chains. It focuses on developing and implementing advanced technologies for the high-quality re-use and recycling of critical raw materials from specific end-of-life products. - Primary objective: Improve EU's resilience in raw material supply chains by boosting recovery rates and enhancing the competitiveness of secondary raw material production. - Target recipient: Legal entities from eligible countries, including SMEs, larger enterprises, research organizations, and universities, expected to form multidisciplinary consortia. - SECTOR-SPECIFIC: Focuses on raw materials, circular economy, waste management, and specific industrial sectors such as electronics, batteries, vehicles, and renewable energy components. - Geographic scope: European Union, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community, and countries with strategic raw materials partnerships or relevant trade agreements with the EU. - Key filtering criteria: Proposals must target functional re-use and recycling (avoiding downcycling), demonstrate a strong business case for industrialisation and market uptake, and involve collaborative consortia. - Grant frequency: Part of the Horizon Europe Work Programme, indicating recurring opportunities within this broader program.

Financial Structure

Funding type: Innovation Actions (IA).
Total budget for this specific topic (HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-61): EUR 24,000,000.0.
Estimated number of grants: 3.
Individual grant amounts per project are expected to be around EUR 8,000,000.0.
Minimum funding per project: EUR 8,000,000.0.
Maximum funding per project: EUR 8,000,000.0.
Currency: EUR.
Funding rate: Not explicitly specified in the topic description. Horizon Europe Innovation Actions typically fund up to 70% of eligible costs for for-profit entities and 100% for non-profit entities. Applicants should refer to the Model Grant Agreement (MGA) for definitive rates.
Financial reporting: Requirements are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes and the HE MGA.
Financial viability: A business plan evaluating the project's financial viability, including an overview of secured funding, ownership structure, and offtake agreements, is required as part of the application.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type

Legal entities established in:
- EU Member States
- Associated Countries (as defined in Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes - specific list not provided in source)
- OECD countries (excluding China)
- African Union Member States
- MERCOSUR countries
- CARIFORUM countries
- Andean Community countries
- Countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials or relevant trade agreements containing raw materials cooperation provisions.
Explicitly ineligible: Legal entities established in China for Innovation Actions.
Consortium requirement: Actions should be developed through industrially- and user-driven multidisciplinary consortia covering the relevant value chain. This implies that forming a consortium is highly expected or required for successful application.

Organizational Size

Strong support to SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) is required.
Projects are expected to involve industrial partners, implying participation from various sizes of organizations, including larger enterprises, not exclusively SMEs.

Technical Qualifications

Focus on material efficient, high-quality re-use and recycling of specific end-of-life products/key waste streams.
Actions must cover the whole chain of re-using and recycling processes and procedures (e.g., collection, logistics, characterisation, sorting, cleaning, refining, purification).
Must ensure functional re-use and recycling, explicitly avoiding downcycling (where recycled material has lower functionality).
If projects use satellite-based Earth observation, positioning, navigation, and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data/services may also be used).

Exclusions

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in Innovation Actions in any capacity.
Deep-sea mining projects will not be recognized as Strategic Projects, which implies they are outside the scope of this grant's objectives and criteria for support.

Application Process

Application Timeline

Call opening date: 2025-05-22.
Submission deadline: 2025-09-23 00:00:00 UTC.
Submission process: Single-stage.
Evaluation timeline: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes (not provided in source).

Application Procedure

Application form: Use the standard application form for HORIZON Innovation Actions (HE IA), available in the Submission System.
Submission platform: Applications must be submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Required documentation and materials:
- Proposal must adhere to specified page limits and layout (as per Annex A and Annex E of Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, and Part B of the Application Form).
- Evidence related to the fulfillment of the eligibility criteria (Article 6(1)).
- Project classification according to the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources, supported by appropriate evidence.
- A detailed timetable for project implementation, including an overview and status of required permits.
- A plan outlining measures to facilitate public acceptance, including meaningful involvement of affected communities, recurrent communication channels, and awareness campaigns.
- Information on the control of undertakings involved in the project (as per Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004) and relative involvement of each undertaking in a consortium.
- A comprehensive business plan evaluating the project's financial viability, outlining funding, ownership structure, secured offtake agreements, potential job creation estimates, and skilled workforce needs (including upskilling/reskilling).
- For projects in third countries or OCTs involving extraction: A plan to improve the environmental state of affected sites post-exploitation.
- For processing or recycling projects located in protected areas: A description of technically appropriate alternative locations assessed and reasons for their rejection.
- For projects with potential to affect indigenous peoples: A plan detailing meaningful consultation measures and strategies for preventing/minimizing adverse impacts on indigenous rights, and fair compensation where appropriate.

Post-Award Requirements

Reporting: Project promoters must submit a report every two years after being recognized as a Strategic Project. This report should cover implementation progress (especially permit-granting), reasons for any delays and mitigation plans, and financing progress (including public support).
Notification: The Commission must be notified of any changes to the Strategic Project affecting its fulfillment of eligibility criteria or changes in the control of involved undertakings.
Public website: Project promoters must establish and regularly update a free-access website (or a dedicated section on their company website) providing information relevant to the local population about the Strategic Project, including its environmental, social, and economic impacts and benefits.
Clustering activities: Projects are expected to engage in clustering activities with other related projects for cross-project cooperation, consultations, joint activities, and sharing of results.

Evaluation Criteria

Impact (Expected Outcomes)

Increased recovery rates: Achieve higher recovery rates of critical and strategic raw materials as outlined in the Critical Raw Materials Act.
Improved competitiveness: Enhance the cost-effectiveness and competitiveness of secondary raw materials production.
Efficiency gains: Improve the efficiency of separation and recycling technologies regarding energy, resource, water use, waste, and emissions (including GHG and air pollutants).
Responsible supply: Contribute to a more responsible supply of raw materials from end-of-life streams, aligning with EU principles for sustainable raw materials.
Policy alignment: Directly contribute to the implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act.
Skills development: Where relevant, develop training material to equip workers with necessary skills for the uptake and deployment of new solutions.
Knowledge sharing: Consortia are encouraged to make voluntary contributions of data, indicators, and knowledge to relevant Joint Research Centre (JRC) platforms (INCITE, EIGL).

Quality of Proposal

Technical soundness: The proposed actions must demonstrate a robust and feasible approach to material efficient, high-quality re-use and recycling.
Comprehensive scope: Proposals should cover the entire value chain of re-using and recycling processes.
Functional recycling: Emphasis on solutions that result in functional re-use and recycling, strictly avoiding downcycling.
Technical feasibility: Projects must be technically feasible within a reasonable timeframe, with expected production volumes estimated with sufficient confidence.

Quality of Implementation

Business case and exploitation strategy: Proposals must include a detailed business case and a credible initial exploitation strategy for industrialisation. This is a decisive factor under the impact criterion.
- Details should include targeted market(s), estimated market size (EU and global), user/customer needs, demonstration of cost-effective solutions, expected market position, and competitive advantage.
- For TRLs 6 and 7: A credible strategy for future full-scale deployment in the EU is expected, outlining the intentions of industrial partners post-project.
Standardisation: Consideration of standardisation aspects when relevant.
Financial analysis: Include an analysis of financial opportunities to ensure market exploitation and replication of circular business models.
Consortium structure: Formation of industrially- and user-driven multidisciplinary consortia covering the relevant value chain is crucial.
Clustering activities: Proposals should foresee a dedicated work package and/or task with appropriate resources for clustering activities with other related projects for co-operation, consultations, and joint activities.
Sustainability implementation: Projects will be assessed on their sustainable implementation, covering:
- Environmental impacts: Monitoring, prevention, and minimisation.
- Social impacts: Prevention and minimisation of adverse social impacts through socially responsible practices, respect for human rights (including indigenous peoples), labour rights, potential for quality job creation, meaningful engagement with local communities and social partners.
- Business practices: Transparent business practices with adequate compliance policies to prevent and minimise risks of adverse impacts on public administration (e.g., corruption, bribery).
Project classification: Use of the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources for project classification, supported by appropriate evidence.
Public acceptance: Inclusion of a plan containing measures to facilitate public acceptance.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Critical Raw Materials Act: Actions are expected to contribute to the implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1252).
General EU/National Law: Compliance with all applicable Union and national law is required.
International Standards: Projects must adhere to international standards related to sustainability, human rights, indigenous peoples' rights, and labor rights.
Satellite Data: If utilizing satellite-based Earth observation, positioning, navigation, or timing data/services, the use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS is mandatory.
Environmental Standards: Compliance with high levels of environmental protection is expected, considering the 'Safe and Sustainable by Design' (SSbD) framework, and ensuring monitoring, prevention, and minimization of environmental impacts (air, water, soil, biodiversity, waste).
Ethical Standards: Projects must adopt transparent business practices and adequate compliance policies to prevent and minimize risks of adverse impacts on public administration, including corruption and bribery.
Financial Regulations: Projects must comply with the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.

Intellectual Property

Specific IP policies are not detailed in the provided text but are typically governed by the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

Risk Management

Projects must address potential risks, particularly in terms of financial viability and environmental/social impacts, as demonstrated in the business plan and sustainability measures.

Strategic Alignment

EU Strategic Autonomy: Strong alignment with strengthening the EU's open strategic autonomy in raw materials.
Green & Digital Transition: Contribution to the green and digital transitions is a core objective.
Capacity Benchmarks: Projects should contribute to achieving Union capacity benchmarks for extraction, processing, and recycling of strategic raw materials, and diversification of supply.
Market Uptake: Expected to include a robust business case and exploitation strategy to facilitate market uptake of solutions.
Synergies: Encouraged to explore synergies with other funding programmes (e.g., European Social Fund Plus for training) and contribute knowledge to JRC platforms.

Scope Limitations

Specific End-of-Life Products: Actions must focus on material efficient, high-quality re-use and recycling from specific end-of-life product categories/key waste streams: waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), waste batteries, end-of-life vehicles, waste wind turbines, waste solar photovoltaics, waste heat pumps, waste electrolysers, and machine tools made from high-performance alloys.
Functional Recycling Only: Recycling must result in the recycled material maintaining or improving its functionality compared to the original material; downcycling is to be avoided.
No Deep-Sea Mining: Deep-sea mining projects are explicitly not eligible for 'Strategic Project' status, implying they are outside the scope of this call.

Cross-Cutting Themes

Gender Dimension: While not mandatory, the integration of the gender dimension (sex and/or gender analysis) in research and innovation content is strongly encouraged if relevant to the specific proposal.

Grant Details