Optimise the usage of resources in a circular economy (RIA) (Processes4Planet and Clean Steel partnerships)

This Destination brings together the research and innovation for a globally competitive European industry through the twin green and digital transition, and the availability, development, use, reuse and disposal of chemicals, advanced materials and critical raw materials.

The Competitiveness Compass announces initiatives that should be served directly by industry-linked activities in Cluster 4, through new, focused R&I activities, but also through the activities supported up to now:

• Clean Industrial Deal adopted in February 2025;
• Critical Raw Materials Act;
• Advanced Materials Communication and future Advanced Materials Act planned for 2026;
• Future Circular Economy Act planned for 2026;
• Steel and Metals Action Plan adopted in March 2025;
• European Chemicals Industry Action Plan adopted in July 2025;
• Industrial action plan for the European automotive sector adopted in March 2025; and
• Strategy on research and technology infrastructures, with regard to technology infrastructures and the valorisation of knowledge.

In order to better translate these policy priorities into actions, to integrate the latest inputs from the partnerships, and to achieve synergies, this Work Programme part adopts a more integrated approach. The headings used under the two industry-focused destinations in previous work programmes, reflecting different partnerships and industrial sectors, are replaced by new headings making strongly interconnected contributions to the corresponding expected impacts in the Strategic Plan 2025-27, on green and digital transition and on autonomy in raw and advanced materials.

The new approach takes into account R&I investments under previous work programmes and intends to introduce more synergies with other pillars (notably the European Innovation Council under Pillar III) as well as with Cluster 5. Topics in this Work Programme increasingly combine the priorities of different partnerships to enable synergies, e.g. with the Investment fund, while continuing to address the particularities of each partnership. The development of new and cross-cutting technologies will help transform existing value chains and create new ones.

In addition to this Work Programme part, Cluster 4 participates in a horizontal Clean Industrial Deal Call, aiming to increase the competitiveness and decarbonisation of industry. The initiative will allow Horizon Europe beneficiaries to feed the EU deployment pipeline with R&I solutions close to market uptake and deployment, whilst also supporting the development by 2035 of a new batch of industry-led demonstrators designed for higher market readiness.

In addition to decarbonisation, manufacturing and energy-intensive industries need to embrace the circular economy as a key pillar in the design of their value chains. This will be fundamental to their resource efficiency (in terms of materials, energy and water). Particularly important in this context is the upcycling of secondary raw materials and waste; de- and re-manufacturing; and the development of sustainable and resource-efficient industrial processes

This Work Programme continues to promote across the calls the application of Safe and Sustainable by Design approach incorporating early and parallel considerations of innovation design choices on impacts on health, environment, climate and other sustainability parameters as a way of achieving stated policy objectives and fostering quick market uptake.

Where projects are asked to contribute to the development of safe and sustainable products, projects should take into account safety concerns for consumers as well as the organisational health and safety aspects for industrial workers.

Finally, to support start-ups and scale-ups, this Work Programme includes support for technology infrastructures and valorisation of knowledge.

Business cases and exploitation strategies for industrialisation:

This section applies only to those topics in this Destination, for which proposals should demonstrate the expected outcomes by including a business case and exploitation strategy for industrialisation.

A business case and a credible initial exploitation strategy are essential components in the ultimate success of an industry-based project, as well as its prospects to attract further investments for deployment. They will both be decisive factors under the impact criterion, and proposers are encouraged to use the extended page limit to present a carefully considered business case and exploitation strategy, backed by the management of the companies involved.

The business case should demonstrate the expected impact of the proposal in terms of enhanced market opportunities for the participants and deployment in the EU, in the short to medium term. It should describe the targeted market(s); estimated market size in the EU and globally; user and customer needs; and demonstrate that the solutions will match the market and user needs in a cost-effective manner; and describe the expected market position and competitive advantage.

The exploitation strategy should identify obstacles, requirements and necessary actions involved in reaching higher TRLs (Technology Readiness Levels), for example: securing the required investments, including through possible synergies with other programmes; accessing the required skills; matching value chains; enhancing product robustness; securing industrial integrators; and user acceptance.

For TRLs 6 and 7, a credible strategy to achieve future full-scale deployment in the EU is expected, indicating the intentions of the industrial partners after the end of the project.

Where relevant, in the context of skills, it is recommended to develop training material to endow workers with the right skillset in order to support the uptake and deployment of new innovative products, services, and processes developed in the different projects. This material should be tested and be scalable, and can potentially be up-scaled through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). This will help the European labour force to close the skill gaps in the relevant sectors and occupational groups and improve employment and social levels across the EU and associated countries.

Where projects are asked to contribute to the development of safe and sustainable products, projects should take into account safety concerns for consumers and the organisational health and safety aspects for industrial workers.

For topics in this destination, consortia (if selected for funding) will be called upon to cooperate with the relevant parts of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), in order to inform the next stages of EU technology and innovation policies.

• INnovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) (https://innovation-centre-for-industrial-transformation.ec.europa.eu/).
• The Energy and Industry Geography Lab: EIGL (https://energy-industry-geolab.jrc.ec.europa.eu/).

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes.

Expected Outcome:

Projects are expected to contribute to one or more of the following outcomes:

• Material recycling and upcycling are significantly enhanced compared to the state of the art through technology development along the value chain and integrated value chain optimisation, leading to reduced GHG and air pollutant emissions;
• Through the recycling of (iron-containing or other) production waste / residuals / by-products or optimisation of the recovery of critical / strategic raw materials or ferroalloys, the EU’s dependencies on imports from single or very limited numbers of country suppliers are reduced, and the yields of recycling of production-waste / by-products are increased;
• The usage of raw materials, fresh water and energy is minimised, and ecosystem and habitat degradation avoided;
• The impact of impurities in materials produced for special applications of strategic importance for European environmental, social and governance (ESG)^[1] sustainability is reduced by either minimising their amount or by modification of impurity-material-structure, morphology, and properties;
• Cost efficient use of resources is reached with minimal energy usage and optimized use of labour.

Scope:

The topic aims to optimise the efficiency of materials, water and energy use by recycling and upcycling of side streams from production and end-of-use waste, to become more competitive, safe and sustainable. Material production becomes less dependent on imports and / or use of non-renewable materials by improving recovery along the value chain, developing and upscaling low-CO2 processes to recover materials, including to replace current efficient but CO2-intensive recycling.

The continuity and high resource demand for materials and energy of industrial processes need dependable availability of resources. The attainment of this target requires moving away from primary, often expensive, and rare resources, by the re-integration and valorisation of secondary resources (end-of-use waste) and industrial side-streams into the process industries as feedstock. Priority should be given to streams that contain critical and insufficiently available raw materials, and to streams with a large carbon footprint or a large required energy input for their production.

The development of technologies should encompass the entire value chain from the collection, dismantling, sorting and separation of waste to the processing of the streams and the production of new high-quality materials. The demonstration of the innovative, efficient, and economically viable technologies is required, considering a scale and conditions that can give reliable indications on the real-world economic potential. Minimizing the intake of energy and water should be considered.

Proposals under this topic are expected to address at least 3 of the following points:

• Increase the share of sustainable feed streams of the process industries from end-of-use waste and/or foster circular material flows in house and/or across sites of iron-containing and other residuals / waste / by-products, avoiding incineration or disposal, including the development / upscaling of low CO2 processes with reduced negative impact on air quality;
• Improve product designs including by-products for easier re-cycling and upcycling;
• Enhance existing technologies for a more efficient residual / waste / by-products collection, sorting, classification, characterisation, treatment, processing and re-use. This can include development / improvement of end-of-life recycling processes targeting waste, scrap, dust and sludges for possible use for high-performance high-reliability products;
• Recover relevant secondary raw materials, including critical ones, and target maximum process efficiency;
• Reduce the usage of scarce and critical raw materials in the production processes, while at the same time preserving ecosystem and reducing pressures on biodiversity that would be caused by extraction;
• Reduce the number of manufacturing stages by shortening of production processes, leading to a reduction in the energy consumption; and/or consider approaches/technologies for optimising efficiency in terms of water use.
• Understand the effect of specific contaminants on the properties of materials produced from secondary feedstock and develop technologies for their removal if needed, also in view of the need for pre-treatment and secondary manufacturing steps.
• Where relevant, include analytical techniques for micro- and/or nano-characterisation of materials to gain the necessary knowledge to influence processes and allow dedicated modelling.

Showcase improved performance, scalability and cost efficiency of the proposed solution through at least one case at laboratory level pilot scale. Digitalisation should be included when effective, but it must not be targeted independently from the development and validation of the necessary process technologies.

The re-integration of side streams in the production cycle can take place within one sector or across sectors (industrial symbiosis). Impacts of regulations must be considered and proposals for their modification and/or enhancement should be suggested where required.

Proposals should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnerships Processes4Planet and Clean Steel.

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[1] Environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings: Council and Parliament reach agreement - Consilium