Technologies for critical raw materials and strategic raw materials from end-of-life products (IA)

The EU funding opportunity under the Horizon Europe program focuses on Technologies for critical raw materials and strategic raw materials from end-of-life products, categorized as an Innovation Action. The primary goal is to enhance the EU's supply security and access to secondary raw materials, thereby reducing dependency on primary raw materials from limited external sources. Projects aim to increase the recovery rate of critical materials, improve production competitiveness, and enhance the efficiency of recycling technologies while adhering to sustainable practices.

Eligible applicants include a wide range of entities such as universities, research institutes, SMEs, and large enterprises established in EU member states, associated countries, OECD countries, and various regions with EU partnerships. It is encouraged to form multi-disciplinary consortia, although single applicants are not explicitly excluded.

The scheme supports the entire recycling process, from collection to processing of end-of-life products including waste electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, vehicles, and more. The funding amount for this call totals EUR 24 million, with an indicative number of around three grants available. Each grant aims to fund projects of about EUR 4 to EUR 5 million. The application process is single-stage, with submissions open from May 22, 2025, to September 23, 2025.

The initiative emphasizes sustainable sourcing, circular business models, and collaboration among various stakeholders to ensure market uptake of innovative solutions while aligning with the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act. Proposals are encouraged to include a business case and exploitation strategy, and while integrating gender dimensions is encouraged, it is not mandatory.

This funding opportunity aims to promote the development of efficient recycling technologies and processes that enhance the EU's resilience and sustainability in sourcing critical materials, contributing to both economic growth and responsible environmental practices.

The EU funding opportunity described is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically under the INDUSTRY (HORIZON-CL4-2025-01) call. The topic, HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-61, focuses on Technologies for critical raw materials and strategic raw materials from end-of-life products (IA), where IA stands for Innovation Actions.

The primary goal of this funding is to enhance the EU's supply security and access to secondary raw materials, particularly those deemed critical and strategic for EU industrial value chains and sectors. This aims to reduce the EU's dependency on primary raw materials, especially those sourced from a limited number of third countries.

Projects funded under this topic are expected to contribute to:

Increased recovery rate of critical and strategic raw materials, aligning with the Critical Raw Materials Act. This involves developing recycling and re-use methods for end-of-life (EoL) products and recovering raw material by-products.

Improved competitiveness of secondary raw materials production through enhanced cost-effectiveness.

Improved efficiency of technologies used in separation and recycling, ensuring sustainable processes in terms of energy, resource, and water use, as well as minimizing waste and emissions, including greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

Improved responsible supply of raw materials to Europe from EoL streams, adhering to the EU principles for sustainable raw materials, which emphasize social, environmental, and economic performance.

The scope of the actions includes:

Developing material-efficient, high-quality re-use and recycling methods for EoL products, such as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), waste batteries, end-of-life vehicles, waste wind turbines, waste solar photovoltaics, waste heat pumps, waste electrolysers, and machine tools made from high-performance alloys.

Focusing on the entire chain of re-using and recycling processes, from collection and logistics to characterization, sorting, cleaning, refining, and purification of secondary raw materials, ensuring the quality of the produced outputs.

Prioritizing functional re-use and recycling, avoiding downcycling where recycled material has lower functionality than the original material.

Clustering activities with other relevant projects for cross-project cooperation, consultations, joint activities on cross-cutting issues, and sharing results, including participation in joint meetings and communication events.

Facilitating market uptake of developed solutions through industrially- and user-driven multidisciplinary consortia, considering standardization aspects, and analyzing financial opportunities for market exploitation and replication of circular business models.

A business case and exploitation strategy should be included in the proposals. While integrating the gender dimension is not mandatory, it is encouraged if relevant.

The call is a single-stage submission process, with the opening date on 22 May 2025 and a deadline of 23 September 2025, 17:00:00 Brussels time. The total budget for the topic is EUR 24,000,000, and the indicative number of grants is around 3. The type of action is HORIZON-IA (HORIZON Innovation Actions), and the type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA) is HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG].

Participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community, and countries with which the EU has strategic partnerships on raw materials or trade agreements with raw materials cooperation provisions.

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.

Applicants are advised to consult various resources, including the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network, European IPR Helpdesk, and CEN-CENELEC/ETSI Research Helpdesks.

In summary, this EU funding opportunity aims to promote innovative technologies and processes for the efficient recycling and re-use of critical and strategic raw materials from end-of-life products, thereby enhancing the EU's resource security, competitiveness, and sustainability in alignment with the Critical Raw Materials Act and circular economy principles. It encourages collaborative projects that involve various stakeholders and contribute to the market uptake of sustainable solutions.

The EU is seeking proposals for projects that can significantly improve the recovery, competitiveness, and responsible supply of critical raw materials by focusing on the entire recycling chain and avoiding downcycling. The projects should also consider clustering activities with other relevant projects and facilitate the market uptake of developed solutions through multidisciplinary consortia. This initiative is part of a broader effort to strengthen the EU's industrial base, promote sustainable practices, and reduce reliance on external sources for essential raw materials.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity include legal entities established in Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community, and countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials as well as trade agreements (or association/economic partnership or equivalent agreements, including the new Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships) containing raw materials cooperation provisions (i.e. Energy and Raw materials chapters). This encompasses a wide range of organizations, including but not limited to research institutions, universities, SMEs, large enterprises, and other relevant stakeholders involved in the raw materials value chain.

Funding Type: The primary funding type is a grant, specifically HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) and HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) and HORIZON Programme Cofund Actions (HORIZON-COFUND). These grants are designed to support projects that develop and implement innovative solutions for the sustainable sourcing and processing of raw materials.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity appears to favor consortia, particularly industrially- and user-driven multidisciplinary consortia covering the relevant value chain. Actions should envisage clustering activities with other projects aiming at recycling, second life, re-use, repurposing, remanufacturing of products and/or components relevant selected projects for cross-projects co-operation, consultations and joint activities on cross-cutting issues and share of results as well as participating in joint meetings and communication events. However, the eligibility of single applicants is not explicitly excluded, but the scope and nature of the call suggest that collaborative projects are more likely to be successful.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is limited to legal entities established in Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community and countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials as well as trade agreements (or association/economic partnership or equivalent agreements, including the new Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships) containing raw materials cooperation provisions (i.e. Energy and Raw materials chapters).

Target Sector: The target sector is focused on raw materials, specifically critical and strategic raw materials, with an emphasis on increasing the resilience of EU supply chains. This includes sustainable and responsible sourcing of both primary and secondary raw materials, recycling, re-use, and the green and digital transition. The program targets waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), waste batteries, end-of-life vehicles, waste wind turbines, waste solar photovoltaics, waste heat pumps, waste electrolysers and machine tools made from high-performance alloys.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, and Andean Community. It also refers to countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials and trade agreements (or association/economic partnership or equivalent agreements, including the new Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships) containing raw materials cooperation provisions.

Project Stage: The project stage targets innovation actions, which typically involve demonstration, piloting, and validation of new technologies or approaches in real-world settings. The focus is on facilitating market uptake and replication of circular business models.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific action type:
HORIZON-RIA: around EUR 6,000,000 (5 grants), EUR 4,000,000 to EUR 5,000,000 (3 grants), around EUR 14,000,000 (2 grants)
HORIZON-CSA: around EUR 3,000,000 (1 grant), around EUR 1,500,000 (1 grant), around EUR 1,000,000 (1 grant), around EUR 2,000,000 (1 grant), EUR 500,000 to EUR 1,000,000 (5 grants), EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 1,500,000 (1 grant)
HORIZON-IA: around EUR 3,000,000 (1 grant), around EUR 5,000,000 (2 grants), around EUR 28,000,000 (1 grant), around EUR 8,000,000 (3 grants), around EUR 7,500,000 (4 grants), EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 7,000,000 (6 grants), EUR 8,000,000 to EUR 10,000,000 (3 grants), EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 9,000,000 (3 grants)
HORIZON-COFUND: around EUR 90,000,000 (1 grant)

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call, with a specific deadline for submissions.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants to support their research, development, and innovation activities.

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

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

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is required for HORIZON-COFUND actions.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call focuses on boosting the EU's resilience in raw materials by supporting projects that enhance the sustainable and responsible sourcing of critical and strategic raw materials. The call aims to increase the recovery rate of these materials from end-of-life products through innovative recycling and re-use technologies. Eligible applicants include a wide range of legal entities from EU Member States, associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, and other specified regions. The funding is provided through various types of Horizon grants, including Innovation Actions, Research and Innovation Actions, Coordination and Support Actions and Programme Cofund Actions, with funding amounts varying based on the action type. Projects should focus on the entire value chain, from collection and logistics to refining and market uptake, and should contribute to the implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act. The call emphasizes the importance of collaborative, multidisciplinary consortia and the development of circular business models. The application process is a single-stage open call with a deadline of September 23, 2025.