A toolbox for public authorities to address marine plastics and litter from river-to-ocean

The EU grant opportunity HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-02 is part of the Horizon Europe program and aims to support the implementation of the "Restore our Ocean and Waters Mission." This initiative focuses on developing tools for public authorities and stakeholders to tackle marine plastic litter originating from land, rivers, and eventually reaching the ocean. The primary goal is to reduce plastic pollution in European waters by at least 50%, aligning with the EU Zero Pollution targets.

Eligible applicants include public authorities, research institutes, NGOs, and consortia that must include multiple entities from at least three EU or Associated Countries. The funding type for this grant is classified as an Innovation Action, offering monetary grants with each project receiving between €4.5 million and €5.5 million. The total available budget for this call is €22 million, with an expectation to fund four projects.

The application process is a single-stage open call, with submissions open until September 24, 2025. Projects funded under this umbrella must focus on co-designing tools and solutions with public authorities and service providers to address issues related to marine litter. There is an emphasis on developing a comprehensive toolbox that contains data and information on sources and impacts of marine litter and effective removal solutions.

Successful proposals must demonstrate their effectiveness through three use cases in different countries within a specific marine basin (such as the Atlantic and Arctic, Mediterranean, Baltic and North Sea, or Danube River basins), showcasing practical applications tailored to regional contexts. Engagement with associated regions and stakeholders is encouraged, facilitating the replication of successful solutions.

The expected outcomes include enhanced monitoring of marine litter, improved solutions for litter removal, and overall contributions to achieving the Mission's goals and enhancing the EU's digital knowledge systems related to marine health.

While the call does not explicitly outline co-funding requirements, cooperation with existing projects and initiatives, and financial support for third parties may be encouraged, allowing for additional funding avenues. The grants will cover a significant portion of project costs, suggesting that applicants might need to find supplementary funding to cover remaining costs.

Overall, this funding opportunity plays a crucial role in supporting collaborative efforts to address marine plastic pollution through innovation, research, and the application of effective, scalable solutions.

This EU funding opportunity, HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-02, aims to support the implementation of the Restore our Ocean and Waters Mission under the Horizon Europe program. It focuses on developing and deploying a toolbox for public authorities and stakeholders to address marine plastic litter originating from land, rivers, and ultimately reaching the ocean. This initiative seeks to reduce plastic pollution in European waters by at least 50%, aligning with the EU Zero Pollution targets.

The program is a Horizon Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a budget-based action grant (HORIZON-AG). The call is currently open for submission as a single-stage process, with an opening date of May 7, 2025, and a deadline of September 24, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. The total budget for this topic is 22,000,000 EUR, with contributions ranging from 4,500,000 to 5,500,000 EUR and an indicative number of 4 grants.

The expected outcomes of the projects funded under this topic include:

Public authorities and stakeholders having access to a toolbox to address marine plastic litter.
Reduced plastic litter pollution in European rivers and seas.
Accelerated uptake of innovative solutions to prevent and remove litter.
Enhanced knowledge on marine litter, including plastics.
Measurable contributions to achieving the Mission ocean and waters and the EU Zero Pollution targets.
Contribution to the Mission’s Digital ocean and water Knowledge system.

The scope of the projects should include:

Co-designing tools and solutions with public authorities and service providers to address marine litter and plastic pollution using a land-to-river-to-sea approach.
Developing a toolbox with data and information on sources, pathways, distribution, and impacts of marine litter, including plastics.
Demonstrating sustainable and environmentally sound removal solutions.
Implementing measures to prevent litter and plastics from reaching the sea.
Focusing on inland waters, including deltas and coastal areas, where systematic monitoring of plastic litter is lacking.
Enhancing cross-border cooperation and coordination at national, regional, and local levels.

The toolbox should embed the following components:

Marine litter monitoring and data collection, following the New guidelines for a common approach to tackle marine litter of the MSFD Technical Group on Marine Litter and made openly available through the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet).
Suitable and cost-effective innovative solutions for the sustainable and environmentally sound removal of plastics litter in rivers and inland waters.
Measures to engage with society and relevant industrial sectors to prevent plastic litter reaching the sea.

Each proposal must explicitly identify the basin being addressed: Atlantic and Arctic sea basin, Mediterranean Sea basin, Baltic and North Sea basin, or Danube River basin, including Black Sea. Only one basin per proposal should be addressed, and activities should be tailored to regional/sea basin specificities.

The effectiveness of the toolbox should be demonstrated through at least 3 use-cases in three different countries per basin, involving different users such as regional authorities and municipalities.

Projects are expected to work with and engage at least 3 ‘associated regions’ to showcase the effectiveness of the toolbox and develop a replication plan. Beneficiaries may provide Financial Support to Third Parties, with a maximum amount of EUR 100,000 per Third Party, to implement the 'Associated regions' scheme.

If the actions include the development of digital tools, interoperability with the EU Digital Twin of the Ocean and storage in the digital platform are required.

The projects are expected to cooperate and exchange with relevant projects arising from previous topics implemented under Mission ocean and waters, the Plastic Pirates project, with the WATER4ALL partnership, relevant Interreg projects, and projects that will be funded under related topics.

Cooperation with the EU Outermost Regions is encouraged.

General conditions for participation include:

Admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout, as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form.
Eligibility of countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS for projects using satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, and/or related timing data and services.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds to ensure a balanced portfolio covering the 4 different Mission basins, as described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Submission and evaluation processes as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Legal and financial set-up of the grants, including open science practices and financial support to third parties, as described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreements are available in the Submission System. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme, HE Specific Programme Decision, EU Financial Regulation, and other relevant guidelines and regulations.

A partner search function is available on the Funding & Tenders Portal to help find organizations to collaborate with on this topic.

In summary, this funding opportunity aims to develop a practical toolbox for public authorities to combat marine plastic litter by addressing its sources and pathways from land to the ocean. It encourages the development of innovative solutions, collaboration among stakeholders, and the implementation of measures to prevent and remove plastic pollution, contributing to the EU's broader goals for ocean restoration and zero pollution. The toolbox should be demonstrated in real-world use cases and be replicable across different regions and sea basins.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include public authorities, public service providers, local/regional authorities/public bodies, research infrastructures, and other interested parties. The call is geared towards consortia involving multiple entities, including those from industrial sectors like the fishing industry. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries may also have specific provisions for funding.

Funding Type: The primary funding mechanism is grants, specifically HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) and HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) under the Horizon Europe program. Financial support to third parties is also provided in the form of grants, with a maximum of EUR 100,000 per third party.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity strongly implies a consortium requirement. The call emphasizes co-design with public authorities and service providers, engagement with society and industrial sectors, demonstration through use-cases in multiple countries, and engagement with associated regions. This necessitates a collaborative approach involving multiple partners.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and Associated Countries. Financial support to third parties is limited to local and/or regional authorities/public bodies located in Member States/Associated Countries. Cooperation with the EU Outermost Regions is encouraged. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Target Sector: The program targets the environment, specifically focusing on marine litter and plastic pollution in European water systems. It also touches on sectors such as waste management, fishing industry, digital tools for environmental monitoring, and Earth observation services.

Mentioned Countries: While specific countries are not explicitly listed, the opportunity targets Member States and Associated Countries within the European Union. The call also mentions EU Outermost Regions. The four specific basins are: Atlantic and Arctic sea basin, Mediterranean Sea basin, Baltic and North Sea basin, and Danube River basin, including Black Sea.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is at the demonstration and validation stage, with an emphasis on implementing and showcasing innovative solutions. The call focuses on Innovation Actions, which involve demonstrating and scaling up existing technologies and solutions.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call:
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-01: EUR 4,000,000 to EUR 5,000,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-02: EUR 4,500,000 to EUR 5,500,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-03: EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 5,825,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-04: Around EUR 15,000,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-05: Around EUR 15,000,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-06: Around EUR 13,500,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-07: EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 3,550,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-08: Around EUR 6,000,000

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants. Additionally, there is potential for beneficiaries to provide financial support to third parties (local and/or regional authorities/public bodies) up to EUR 100,000 per third party.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the potential competitiveness.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state a co-funding requirement from the applicant. However, Horizon Europe grants typically fund a percentage of the total eligible costs, implying that applicants may need to cover the remaining costs through other sources.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, "Supporting the implementation of the Restore our Ocean and Waters Mission," aims to combat marine litter and plastic pollution by promoting a land-to-river-to-sea approach. The call seeks to fund projects that will co-design and implement effective tools and solutions, particularly focusing on inland waters and river basins. The core deliverable is a "toolbox" that includes marine litter monitoring, innovative removal solutions, and measures to prevent litter from reaching the sea. Projects must demonstrate the effectiveness of their toolbox through use-cases in different countries within specific sea basins (Atlantic and Arctic, Mediterranean, Baltic and North Sea, Danube River including Black Sea). A key aspect is the engagement of associated regions through financial support to third parties, fostering the replication of successful solutions. The call encourages cooperation with other relevant projects and the use of digital tools, ensuring interoperability with the EU Digital Twin of the Ocean. The funding is provided through Horizon Innovation Actions and Research and Innovation Actions, with varying budget allocations per topic, and is open to consortia involving public authorities, service providers, research institutions, and industry stakeholders from EU Member States and Associated Countries. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the Mission's target of reducing plastic litter in the sea by 50% and achieving the EU Zero Pollution targets.