Circular Economy and Zero Pollution

The LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-ENVIRONMENT grant is part of the EU's LIFE Programme aimed at advancing the circular economy and achieving zero pollution. This opportunity is structured as an action grant, providing direct financial support rather than loans or equity. Eligible applicants include a wide range of entities such as public institutions, private enterprises (including startups, SMEs, and large companies), universities, research institutes, and non-governmental organizations. Proposals can be submitted either individually or as part of a consortium, with no mandatory consortium requirement.

The grant is targeted at projects located within EU member states, EEA countries, or EU candidate countries, reflecting a commitment to align with EU environmental policies. The focus sectors include environmental sustainability with a specific emphasis on circular economy practices, waste management, and pollution reduction.

The budget allocated for this grant is €77 million for this specific environmental topic, with individual project funding likely ranging between €1 million and €5 million. The application process is a single-stage open call, with a deadline set for September 23, 2025. There is a co-funding requirement, where projects must secure about 40% of funding from other sources.

The expected outcomes of funded projects include the development, demonstration, and promotion of innovative techniques and solutions that support the transition to a sustainable economy. The projects should be at the development or demonstration stage and must adhere to the objectives outlined in the European Green Deal.

Applicants are required to define the impacts their projects will achieve, aligning with specific priorities established in the call document. Required submissions include a standard application form, a detailed budget table, participant information, and potentially optional documents like letters of support and site descriptions.

The grant supports impactful projects in environmental sectors and encourages collaboration across various stakeholders, aligning with broader EU goals of protecting and improving environmental quality.

This EU funding opportunity is part of the Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) and specifically targets the Circular Economy and Quality of Life through Standard Action Projects (SAP). The call is designated as LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV. It is a LIFE Project Grant (LIFE-PJG) with a LIFE Action Grant Budget-Based [LIFE-AG] model. The submission process is single-stage.

The call opened on April 24, 2025, and has a deadline of September 23, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected impact is that applicants will define, calculate, explain, and achieve the impacts described in the Award criterion ‘Impact’ within the Call document sections 2 and 9.

The objective is to facilitate the transition toward a sustainable, circular, energy-efficient, and climate-resilient economy, a toxic-free environment, and to protect, restore, and improve the quality of the environment, aligning with the European Green Deal and recent policy developments.

The specific objective is to cover one or more of the following topics as defined in section 2 of the Call document:

Circular Economy and Waste: Recovery of Resources from Waste
Circular Economy and the Environment: Zero pollution and sustainable management of natural resources, including:
Air
Water
Soil
Noise
Chemicals
Industrial Emissions and Safety
A new European Bauhaus

The assessment of the project's alignment with the call's specific priorities (Award criterion 1) will be based on the topics identified and described under ‘Compliance with LIFE programme objectives and call topic’ in the Standard application form. A maximum of two sub-topics can be selected, such as "Air quality improvement and emission reduction of PM solutions" and "Sustainable road transport mobility," and only these will be considered during evaluation.

The scope of this call focuses on Standard Action Projects (SAP) aimed at achieving the objectives of the Circular Economy and Quality of Life sub-programme. SAPs are defined in section 2 of the call document (Type of Action), while the general objectives of the sub-programme are in section 1 (‘Circular Economy and Quality of Life’). SAPs focusing exclusively on environmental governance are excluded from this call and are covered by the LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-GOV call topic.

Key dates and updates include the submission session opening on April 24, 2025, for both LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-GOV and LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-ENVIRONMENT.

The conditions for application include:

1. Admissibility Conditions: Described in section 5 of the call document. Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries: Described in section 6 of the call document.
3. Other Eligible Conditions: Described in section 6 of the call document.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: Described in section 7 of the call document.
5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.
5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in section 9 of the call document.
5c. Evaluation and award: The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in section 4 of the call document.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: Described in section 10 of the call document.

Required documents and annexes include:

Call document
Standard application form (mandatory): Available in the Submission System
Mandatory Annexes:
Detailed budget table
Participant information
Optional Annexes:
Letters of support
Maps
Description of sites
Other Annexes (e.g., Lifecycle analysis, Business plans)

Additional documents:

FAQs in LIFE website
LIFE Reference Documents
Annotated Grant Agreement
LIFE General MGA v1.0
LIFE Regulation 2021/783
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

The budget overview for 2025 includes:

LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-ENVIRONMENT: 77,000,000 EUR
LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-GOV: 4,000,000 EUR

Both topics follow a single-stage submission process, opening on April 24, 2025, and closing on September 23, 2025.

There are 65 partner search announcements available. LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics.

To start the submission process, applicants should click the submission button next to the relevant type of action and model grant agreement. Existing draft proposals can be accessed via the Funding & Tenders Portal. Applicants must select the type of submission: LIFE Project Grants [LIFE-PJG] or LIFE Action Grant Budget-Based [LIFE-AG].

For support, applicants are advised to:

Read all provisions carefully before preparing the application.
Consult the FAQs on the LIFE website.
Contact the National Contact Point (NCP) and add the NCP as a contact in the application.
Refer to the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ for submission of proposals.
Contact the IT Helpdesk for technical issues.
Use the Online Manual for a step-by-step guide.

In summary, this LIFE call focuses on projects that contribute to the Circular Economy and Quality of Life by addressing waste management, pollution reduction, and sustainable resource management, aligning with the European Green Deal. It provides funding for Standard Action Projects that demonstrate significant environmental impact. Applicants need to carefully review the call documents, select relevant sub-topics, and follow the submission guidelines to be eligible for funding. The call encourages collaboration and provides resources for finding project partners and technical support.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, based on the nature of the LIFE programme and the types of projects it supports, eligible applicants could include a wide range of entities such as public bodies, private commercial and non-commercial organisations, including SMEs, large enterprises, universities, research institutions, and NGOs. The specific eligibility criteria will be detailed in section 6 of the call document.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily grant-based, specifically LIFE Project Grants (LIFE-PJG) and LIFE Action Grant Budget-Based [LIFE-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required or if single applicants are allowed. However, the mention of "Partner search announcements" and the ability for LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants to publish partner requests suggests that consortia are possible and perhaps encouraged. The call document should provide more specific information.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The eligible countries are described in section 6 of the call document, but the specific countries are not listed in the provided text. It is likely that the eligibility includes EU member states and potentially other countries associated with the LIFE programme.

Target Sector: The program targets the following sectors: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Recovery of Resources from Waste), Environmental Protection, Zero Pollution, Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (Air, Water, Soil, Noise, Chemicals, Industrial Emissions and Safety), and the New European Bauhaus initiative.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned in the provided text.

Project Stage: The call targets Standard Action Projects (SAP), which suggests that the expected project stage is beyond the initial idea or research phase and more towards development, demonstration, or implementation.

Funding Amount: There are two specific budget allocations mentioned:
LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-ENVIRONMENT: EUR 77,000,000
LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-GOV: EUR 4,000,000
These are total budgets for the topics, and the actual grant amounts per project will vary.

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.

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

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This is a call for proposals under the LIFE Programme for the Environment and Climate Action, specifically targeting the Circular Economy and Quality of Life sub-programme. The call aims to facilitate the transition towards a sustainable, circular, energy-efficient, and climate-resilient economy, a toxic-free environment, and the protection, restoration, and improvement of environmental quality, aligning with the European Green Deal.

There are two main topics: LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-ENVIRONMENT, with a budget of EUR 77 million, focusing on broader environmental issues, and LIFE-2025-SAP-ENV-GOV, with a budget of EUR 4 million, focusing on environmental governance (though projects focusing exclusively on environmental governance are excluded from the ENVIRONMENT topic).

The call is for Standard Action Projects (SAP), indicating that projects should be beyond the initial research phase. The specific objectives include circular economy and waste management (recovery of resources from waste), zero pollution and sustainable management of natural resources (air, water, soil, noise, chemicals, industrial emissions and safety), and the New European Bauhaus.

The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline of September 23, 2025. Applicants are expected to define, calculate, explain, and achieve the expected impacts as described in the Award criterion ‘Impact’. Applicants need to comply with the admissibility conditions, eligibility criteria for countries, and other conditions as detailed in the call document. The submission session opened on April 24, 2025. A standard application form is mandatory, and applicants may need to provide a detailed budget table and participant information. Optional annexes such as letters of support, maps, and descriptions of sites can also be included. Applicants are encouraged to consult the FAQs, contact their National Contact Point (NCP), and use the IT Helpdesk and Online Manual for support.