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Deadline expired

The deadline for this call has expired.

Call key data

Strategies to prevent and reduce plastic packaging pollution from the food system

Call number

HORIZON-CL6-2023-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-7

deadlines

Opening
22.12.2022

Deadline
28.03.2023 17:00

Funding rate

100%

Call budget

€ 8,000,000.00

Estimated EU contribution per project

€ 4,000,000.00

Link to the call

ec.europa.eu

Link to the submission

ec.europa.eu

Call content

Call objectives

The use of single-use plastics in food packaging has grown significantly in the last decades, leading to increased pollution in the environment and greenhouse gas emissions. While plastic packaging is an enabler for the safety and shelf life of food products, contributing to the reduction of food waste, there is a need for improved solutions that promote the prevention and reduction of excessive packaging in the food industry. Often, the excessive food packaging results in its inappropriate disposal or littering by consumers. This can be reduced through the application of circular models for design and production and the proper disposal and recycling of packaging waste.

Proposals are expected to:

  • Provide a comprehensive and evidenced based analysis of the negative impacts and externalities of littered plastic food packaging in the different terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments and ecosystems across Europe. This analysis should provide reliable quantitative new data and fill in existing data gaps on these negative impacts and externalities through multiple sources, including citizen science tools.
  • Provide an analysis of the main challenges and existing good practices of prevention and reduction of single use plastics, aiming at shifting the current packaging design and production practices. This analysis should address the availability of sustainable and innovative alternatives as well as the readiness of food packaging producers and food business operators to adopt such solutions.
  • Develop innovative business strategies, design and production models that improve the prevention, reduction and reuse of plastic food packaging, whilst ensuring that they can be easily implemented in European countries. These business strategies and models should involve all relevant actors, including food SMEs and, when appropriate, policy makers. They should consider health and environmental impacts of packaging, guaranteeing they do not cause any contamination of food and the environment by hazardous chemicals. Moreover, they should maintain the microbiological and chemical safety and quality of food, taking into account relevant parameters such as their contact with aqueous and fatty foods, aging, and effect on shelf life.
  • Develop innovative strategies, design and production models to facilitate packaging recycling, linking developers of sustainable packaging with converters and recyclers, taking into account the recycling capacity technologies and the relevant technical specifications of the use of recycled content. These strategies should namely target collection systems, the use of mono-materials, the reduction of labelling materials and the promotion of easy to sort and clean materials.
  • Develop strategies aimed at improving consumer acceptance of sustainable, efficient and fit-for-purpose packaging solutions, facilitating the use of reusable and recyclable packaging for consumers, easing the sorting and appropriate disposal of packaging, and helping them to correctly interpret labelling of packaging. These strategies should be designed based on a joint effort of developers of sustainable packaging and consumers and should aim at avoiding confusion, minimising misuse, increasing user convenience and encouraging a greater uptake of such packaging solutions.
  • Implement multi-actor approach by involving a wide range of food packaging actors and consumers and conducting inter-disciplinary research.
  • Support social innovation for inclusive and long-term solutions aiming at the reduction of plastic food packaging.

The proposals may:

  • build links with the European Mission ‘Restore our ocean and waters by 2030’, in particular with the Mission activities under objective 2 – prevent and eliminate pollution in our ocean, seas and water, and with the Mission lighthouse activities in the Mediterranean Sea basin focusing on preventing, minimising, remediating and monitoring pollution;
  • build links with the Mission implementation monitoring system;
  • build links and support the Mission’s knowledge and information system (Digital Twin Ocean), in particular by contributing to pollution monitoring, modelling, and knowledge creation and data.

Proposals must implement the ‘multi-actor approach’ and ensure adequate involvement of researchers, food business operators, food packaging producers, developers of sustainable packaging, packaging converters and recyclers, consumers, local and regional authorities and other relevant actors.

This topic should involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines. In order to achieve the expected outcomes, international cooperation is encouraged.

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Expected results

To support the implementation of the European Green Deal, the new circular economy action plan, the EU 2030 climate target plan, the farm to fork strategy, the food 2030 initiative and the Mission ‘Restore our ocean and waters by 2030’, successful proposals are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • Increased knowledge on the impacts of littered plastic food packaging on the terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments and ecosystems, including the climate change mitigation and adaptation dimensions;
  • Uptake of innovative business strategies, design and production models to prevent and reduce the use of plastic food packaging;
  • Adoption of increasingly sustainable, effective and efficient fit-for-purpose packaging solutions by food operators, and reduction of the dependency on fossil-based materials, thus contributing to EU climate action;
  • Increased reuse and recycling of sustainable packaging;
  • Increased consumer acceptance of sustainable, efficient and fit-for-purpose food packaging solutions including where appropriate the non-use of any type of packaging;
  • Support to the implementation of the relevant targets as outlined in the revised packaging and packaging waste directive and the directive on single-use plastics and support to operators, especially SMEs, in meeting the requirements of the relevant EU legislation.

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Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

EU Member States, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom

eligible entities

EU Body, Education and training institution, International organization, Natural Person, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)

Mandatory partnership

Yes

Project Partnership

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
  • third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries

Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

  • 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.

Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.

A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.

Specific cases:

  • Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
  • Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
  • Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
  • Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
  • Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.

other eligibility criteria

Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach on pages 21-23 of the work programme. 

Additional information

Topics

Agriculture & Forestry, Fishery, Food, Soil quality, 
Air Quality, Biodiversity & Environment, Climate & Climate Change, Water quality & management, 
Circular Economy, Natural Resources

Relevance for EU Macro-Region

EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region

UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)

Additional Information

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.

Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.

The application form will have two parts:

  • Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
  • Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.

Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).

The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.

Call documents

HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 4HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 4(608kB)

Contact

National Contact Points for Horizon Europe
Website

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