Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors (Horizon Europe) - One Stage

This destination will support the EU Commission priorities ‘Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature’ and ‘A new plan for Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness’.

The Destination supports the EU Green Deal and contributes to Europe’s competitiveness and sustainable prosperity by supporting the development of a more resilient circular economy in line with the EU Competitiveness Compass, the announced EU Clean Industrial Deal and the EU Circular Economy Act.

It aims to increase market demand for secondary materials and establish a single market for waste, whilst enhancing Europe’s efforts to develop a single market for sustainable products. It will also support the implementation of the framework conditions set by the upcoming EU start-up and scale-up strategy.

Furthermore, the Destination aims to facilitate the emergence and uptake of innovative, circular and bio-based materials, products, processes and value chains that play a key role for the defossilisation (reduction of feedstocks of fossil origin), climate neutrality and strategic autonomy of our economy, in line with the updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy and its revision planned for 2025, as well as with the New European Bauhaus.

In addition, this Destination supports several key EU policies including the industrial strategy, the chemicals industry package and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and its working plan.

It also contributes to the EU Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, the SME strategy, the communication on safe and sustainable by design framework, the sustainable blue economy, the European Ocean Pact, the European Water Resilience Strategy, the European Life Sciences Strategy, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, and the Nature Restoration Regulation.

Further support extends to the CAP, the EU forest strategy for 2030, the proposal for a Regulation on a forest monitoring framework, the EU proposal for a directive on soil monitoring and resilience, and the Vision for Agriculture and Food.

Expected impact: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway contributing to “achieving healthy soils and forests, as well as clean air, fresh and marine water, whilst ensuring water resilience and the transition to a clean, competitive and circular economy and sustainable bioeconomy”, and more specifically to one or more of the following expected impacts:

Improved climate change adaptation and mitigation through the transition to a more sustainable and circular economy and bioeconomy, underpinned by biotechnologies and sustainable industrial solutions, such as carbon capture and utilisation and recovery of materials, water and energy.
Industrial competitiveness, sustainability and strategic autonomy are improved through the development of safe, sustainable, circular and/or bio-based value chains. This is done by promoting the efficient and circular use of secondary materials and water, fostering the multi-functionality of forests, and ensuring the sustainable supply of critical resources from land and sea.
Living conditions for individuals and communities are improved through innovative, affordable and sustainable safe and sustainable by design products and services based on circular and/or bio-based solutions while demonstrating a reduction of environmental and climate pressures.
Advanced societal transformation based on a systemic approach, as well as people’s involvement and integration of social sciences and humanities for fair, safe, sustainable and circular value chains, sustainable consumption patterns, environmental justice, gender equality and social inclusion.

Topics for 2026 (one stage) with submission deadline on 17 September:

HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-01: Improving circularity of multilayer flexible plastic food contact packaging
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-02: Advancing recycling technologies for mixed post-consumer textiles waste from blended products
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-03: Advanced recovery of critical raw materials from Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-04: Demonstrating and deploying innovative collection, sorting-for-reuse and repair systems for textiles at city/region level (Circular Cities and Regions Initiative topic)
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-05: Understanding biomass flows in Europe
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-06: Bioeconomy policy support hub for Member States, regions and sectors
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-07: Advancing the European bio-based innovation enabled by biotechnology and biomanufacturing concepts
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-08: Supporting pre-normative research for standardization of the bio-based products
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-09: Balancing food security, bioeconomy, climate and biodiversity objectives while unlocking sustainable value chains
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-10: Bio-based innovation in society: supporting the sustainable way of living
HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-11: Harnessing the unique properties of marine organisms to deliver sustainable blue bio-based products