Filter Search for grants
Call Navigation
Deadline expired
The deadline for this call has expired.
Call key data
Hubs for circularity for industrialised urban peripheral areas (Processes4Planet partnership)
Call number
HORIZON-CL4-2024-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-38
deadlines
Opening
19.09.2023
Deadline
07.02.2024 17:00
Funding rate
70% (NPO:100%)
Call budget
€ 40,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
between € 15,000,000.00 and € 20,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Projects outcomes will enable achievement of the objectives of Processes4Planet partnership by demonstrating hubs for circularity (H4Cs) concepts, fostering circularity within and beyond process industries and driving the partnership’s innovation portfolio towards “First of a kind” demonstrators to de-risk investment for subsequent roll-out. (P4Planet operational objectives 8 and 9).
Call objectives
Urban areas with high volumes of waste (household and end of life consumer waste) should closely interact with adjacent industries to jointly minimize their CO2 footprint and improve their waste management, thus contributing together to the valorisation of secondary materials and overall circularity. The hubs for circularity (H4C) concept is a pathway to exploit local synergies for the deployment of innovative solutions engaging regional resource management actors in strategic nodes where novel value chains valorising a significant part of end-of-life wastes could connect within and across regions.
The concept of Industrial-Urban Symbiosis (I-US) should be demonstrated at semi-industrial scale, by systemically re-integrating the flow of urban wastes in process industries and, where applicable downstream in manufacturing, construction, and other industries. Full attention should be paid on upcycling of secondary materials or products instead of downcycling.
Proposals are expected to address:
- A systemic solution for a H4C including technological and non-technological as well as regional and interregional aspects: closing circularity loops for mixed/combined materials streams based on upcycling and process-based approach to a range of recycling solutions including conversion and downstream, complex multi-material streams, valorisation of waste streams (urban mining);
- Proposals can address either materials, water or energy, or a combination of those. Management and processing of secondary resource streams through e.g., collection, disassembly, sorting, purification, concentration, recycling (including but not limited to chemical, metallurgical, or bio-based resources), logistics and trading for their valorisation for the use as feedstock for other plants and companies across sectors and/or across value chains. Connections with manufacturing industries are expected. The remaining non-recyclable fractions will be used to optimal energy recovery;
- Digital tool, recycling and sensor-based waste sorting, modelling tools, including material passport and information on material streams, as basis for resource management towards fully integrated LCA and Material Flow Analysis MFA (on diverse levels) and for creating transparency and matchmaking opportunities across hubs. Prepare for tagging/matrix for complex consumer products and innovative approach to end-of life materials;
- Establish IT infrastructures and tools that provide a secure basis for the integrated management and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive data, it might not be in the same location as the demonstrator and serve the needs of multiple hubs;
- Consider when applicable the co-development of industrial decarbonization strategies with urban district heating networks, i.e., based on a socio-economic optimum in the cascading re-use of waste heat and using the district heating network to supply low temperature process heat;
- Use established reporting methodologies for the assessment of industrial symbiosis activities and exchanges, including Symbiosis Readiness Levels (SRLs) and best practices established by the European H4C Community of Practice (ECoP). In addition, interact with the ECoP for support, best practice and knowledge exchange on technological and non-technological issues;
- Plan in detail the replication and adaption of the concept, including the simulation and the business case and exploitation strategy of the First of a Kind hubs, in two to three alternative locations in close cooperation with the relevant local actors. The replication cases should be part of the proposal. Include local and regional authorities in an active collaboration to create favourable and coherent place-based framework conditions;
- Favour participative management with the local community and study the evolution of the social impact of the hub, whilst also considering gender perspective and inclusiveness;
- Implement a social innovation action involving at least one of the local community actors and, additional actions to facilitate relations and to involve the local community actors e.g., exchanging knowledge with the educational establishments and developing flexible learning resources;
- Include a plan to extend the hub to additional players parties (especially waste management and associations, new market entries and other relevant stakeholders) who also should benefit and multiply the local/regional synergies in the co-implementation of the identified innovations and solutions within the next five years.
Proposals submitted under this topic should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination As a project output a more elaborated exploitation plan should be developed including preliminary plans for scalability, commercialisation, and deployment (feasibility study, business plan and financial model) indicating the possible funding sources to be potentially used (e.g., Innovation Fund, LIFE, InvestEU, ESIF).
Relevant indicators and metrics, with baseline values, should be stated clearly in the proposal. Research must build on existing standards or contribute to standardisation. Interoperability for data sharing should be addressed.
Clustering and cooperation with other selected projects under this topic and other relevant topics in Horizon Europe (e.g., HORIZON-CL4-2023-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-42 or HORIZON-CL4-2023-RESILIENCE-01-05), with European initiatives (as for example: Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) and European Circular Economy Stakeholder Panel (ECESP)), as well as building on existing projects is strongly encouraged (see also Industrial Symbiosis Report of March 2020).
This topic aims to support the goals of the smart cities mission by contributing to a healthier urban industrial symbiosis through waste reduction.
This topic implements the co-programmed European partnership Processes4Planet.
read more
Expected results
Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:
- Demonstrate zero urban waste in a near commercial scale environment through systemic resource recovery as alternative material feedstock; a decrease of GHG emissions is also expected by explicitly addressing the reduced flow of goods (due to geographical proximity);
- Reduce the freshwater consumption of the urban area by 50%, and re-use 90% of the solid waste generated by the water treatment;
- Citizens living in cities will benefit from a healthier environment through industrial/urban symbiosis by lowering emissions through circular and renewable energy sources and waste reduction;
- Use urban/industrial symbiosis and cross-sectorial cooperation to pave the way for achieving the EU Green Deal and “Fit for 55” package objectives: providing recommendations for optimized regional framework conditions by highlighting barriers and suitable innovation-oriented policies and looking for possible synergies with the cities selected by the Cities Mission.
read more
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan), Belarus (Беларусь), 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), New Zealand (Aotearoa), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, 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
Activities are expected to start at TRL 5 and achieve TRL 7 by the end of the project.
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 and services may additionally be used).
Additional information
Topics
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.
In order to include a business case and exploitation strategy, the page limit in General Annex A of the General Annexes is exceptionally extended by 3 pages.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 4 Destination 1HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 4 Destination 1(637kB)
Contact
To see more information about this call, you can register for free here
or log in with an existing account.
Log in
Register now