Up2Circ Second Open Call

Description

In its second open call, Up2Circ Accelerator will support up to 40 projects to validate the adoption of circular business models and implement concrete actions towards circular products, processes and services. Small scale projects: Feasibility studies Funding: Fixed amount of €15,000 Project duration: Fixed 6 months Expected number of funded projects: 28 Project scope: A feasibility study is a detailed analysis that evaluates all aspects of a proposed project to ensure its successful implementation. The feasibility study must aim to innovate or transform the applicant company's current practices to become more circular. The study must explore the potential adoption of at least one circular business model within the company. There are five types of eligible circular business models: Circular supply chain: Optimise resource use by replacing unsustainable materials with bio-based, reclaimed, reused, or recycled alternatives. Sharing economy: Enhance resource utilisation through collaborative models for shared usage, access, or ownership. Product as a service: Improve resource productivity by providing outcome-oriented solutions where customers pay for the benefits a product delivers, rather than owning it. Product life extension: Prolong product lifespans through repair, maintenance, upgrades, resale, or remanufacturing. Recovery and recycling: Recover usable materials or energy from waste and by-products. Large scale projects: Piloting and demonstration Funding: Fixed amount of €50.000 Project duration: Fixed 12 months Expected number of funded projects: 12 Project scope: The pilot and demonstration activities must aim at implementing at least one of the concrete transition measures towards circularity through technology adoption, circular product design, or the introduction of new products, processes or services. Projects must focus on prototyping, pilot testing, and the implementation of new business processes, solutions and systems. There are three types of eligible activities: Implementation of technologies to increase circularity: Activities should focus on integrating technologies that significantly reduce resource consumption and/or waste production. Expected outcome: New technology successfully integrated into the applicant’s processes. Adoption of circular product design: Activities should involve conducting a product environmental footprint analysis (LCA), identifying optimization opportunities, and developing or testing a prototype. Expected outcome: A validated prototype of a product enhanced with circular design principles, developed by the applicant. Introduction of new products, processes or services: Projects should introduce new products, processes, or services that enhance the circularity of the applicant’s core business. The measures do not need to be new to Europe but must be new to the company. Expected outcome: New products, processes, or services integrated into the applicant's operations.

Beneficiary & submission

Application process The application process is one-stage with an online application form at https://up2circ.grantplatform.com/ Evaluation process The evaluation process is composed of two phases: First phase: Admissibility and eligibility check The admissibility and eligibility check is conducted by the Up2Circ consortium partners and includes the following criteria: Type of activity: The proposed activities must align with the eligible activities outlined in Section 2.2 of the Second Open Call Guide for Applicants. These include: Small scale projects: Adoption of at least one of the five eligible circular business models (circular supply chain, sharing economy, product as a service, product life extension, or recovery and recycling). Large scale projects: Implementation of at least one transition measure toward circularity (technology adoption, circular product design, or introducing new products, processes, or services). Customised advisory: Applicants must upload the Up2Circ Assessment Report, completed with the support of the Up2Circ advisor. The Up2Circ advisor will assist the applicant by conducting a circularity assessment followed by completing the Up2Circ Assessment Report, which will outline the SME’s strengths, weaknesses, and suggested improvements. Enhanced knowledge and expertise in circular economy: Applicants must have actively participated in the Up2Circ Academy online learning programme. Active participation is defined as completing at least 50% of the Up2Circ Academy e-learning modules. SME status: Applicants must qualify as a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) according to the European Commission's definition. SME status should be checked by applicants using the EU SME self-assessment questionnaire. Geographical eligibility: Applicants must be based in a Member State of the European Union (EU 27). SMEs from Horizon Europe Associated Countries are not eligible. Fixed funding amount: The requested funding must correspond to the fixed amounts of €15,000 for small scale projects and €50,000 for large scale projects. Fixed project duration: The proposed work plan must alignwith the fixed durations of six months for small scale projects and twelve months for large scale projects.  Timely submission: The application must be submitted before the specified deadline. Single applicant: Applications must be submitted by a single entity. Joint or consortium applications will not be accepted. Application completeness: The application must be complete, including all required information. Language requirement: The application must be completed in English. Second phase: Independent evaluation Eligible applications will be assessed by up to three evaluators independent from the organisations involved in the Up2Circ consortium and from any applicant. The selected evaluators sign a declaration of confidentiality concerning the contents of the proposals they read, and they also confirm the absence of any conflict of interest. Given the budget limitations for external evaluations in the second open call, the number of eligible applications for external evaluation will be capped at 100 small scale applications and 180 large scale applications. If fewer applications are received in one category, the unused capacity will be reallocated to the other category proportionally. In case the number of eligible applications exceeds the cap, applications will be prioritized based on the time of submission (first-come, first-served). Each proposal will be evaluated against the following three evaluation criteria: Concept: Does the project clearly align with the objectives of Up2Circ? Relevance: Does the project address the sustainability challenges of the company and support its transition towards a circular economy? To what extent does it enhance the company's level of circularity? ·Are the project objectives clearly defined and coherent with the actions already taken? Are the proposed measures relevant, meaningful and aligned with the company’s strategy?   Novelty: To what extent does the proposed project bring new value and benefits to the company, compared to its current operations? Does the project integrate advanced technologies and/or social innovation to increase the company’s circularity? If yes, are the benefits clearly detailed? (This aspect is not mandatory but can provide added value) Feasibility: Does the applicant have the required resources, expertise and capabilities to successfully implement the project? Workplan and budget:  Does the work plan include a clear and achievable timeline with a monthly breakdown of main activities, key milestones, and deliverables? Is the work plan sufficiently detailed to ensure effective implementation? Are the planned activities aligned with the identified problem and the project’s objectives? Is the proposed budget appropriate and consistent with the planned activities and expected deliverables? Team and network: How does the composition of the team and network demonstrate the necessary expertise and resources to achieve the project objectives? If subcontracting is involved, is it sufficiently explained how the internal team and subcontractors will collaborate to execute core project tasks and deliverables? How does the applicant plan to address any gaps in the current team’s expertise? Risk analysis (only for large scale projects): Are the identified technical and business risks relevant to the scale of the project, and are the proposed mitigation strategies appropriate to address these risks and ensure project success? Impact: Has the funding the potential to significantly contribute to enhancing the applicant’s sustainability? Environmental and social impact: What is the expected economic impact of the project on the applicant's company? Has the potential economic impact been quantified using clear and sound Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to Sustainable Development Goals? Are the baseline and target values for the selected KPIs clearly calculated, realistic and justified? Business and broader impact: What is the expected economic impact of the project on the applicant's company and has it been quantified using clear baseline and target values for Key Performance Indicators KPIs related to Sustainable Development Goals? How is the project expected to influence the relevant industrial sector? What is the anticipated regional impact of the project, and does it demonstrate potential for replication? The evaluators will score each criterion on a scale from 0 to 5 (half point scores may be given): 0 = The proposal fails to address the criteria, or it cannot be assessed due to missing or incomplete information. 1 = Poor – The criterion is inadequately addressed or there are serious inherent weaknesses. 2 = Fair – The proposal broadly addresses the criterion, but there are significant weaknesses. 3 = Good – The proposal addresses the criterion well but there are a certain number of shortcomings. 4 = Very good – There is a small number of shortcomings but overall, the proposal addresses the criterion very well. 5 = Excellent – The proposal successfully addresses all relevant aspects of the criterion with minor or no shortcomings The maximum overall score is 15. The standard threshold for individual criteria is 3, and the standard overall threshold, applying to the sum of the three individual scores, is 10. The average of the 3 scores and total will be calculated for each proposal. In order to rank applications with same scores, priority will be given to applications that achieve higher scores in the Impact criterion. Additionally, second priority will be assigned to projects with a higher ranking in terms of concept, while third priority will be given to projects based on the time of submission of the proposal. Proposals failing to achieve the threshold score per individual criteria or the overall threshold will be rejected. The evaluators will comment on all three criteria: Concept, Feasibility, Impact​, and on the whole proposal​, highlighting: Strengths and Positive Aspects, Shortcomings​. Individual consensus group meetings involving up to three evaluators assigned to the same proposal will be initiated by Up2Circ consortium partners if a substantial difference in scoring is detected for the proposal. Substantial difference in this context refers to a minimum 5-point difference between the total score given by the lowest and highest evaluation. For all proposals the evaluators will carry out an ethics screening to detect if the proposed projects include ethically sensitive activities, such as processing of personal data, the use of AI- based applications and interactions with human subjects. In case ethically sensitive activities are detected, SMEs receiving Up2Circ third party funding will be obliged to take measures to ensure compliance with ethical principles, the applicable international and national law, and to include details about ethics compliance into their reporting. Proposals will be ranked separately for small scale and large scale projects according to the overall scores in descending order. The ranking will be subject to an online Evaluation and Ethics Advisory Board meeting with assigned evaluators, the Ethics Advisor and Up2Circ project partner representatives who meet to discuss how to manage potential ethics issues and agree on the final list of selected applicants and a reserve list. The evaluation results will be available on June 13th, 2025. All applicants will be informed about the evaluation results by email notification directing them to the total score awarded to their proposal and feedback from evaluators highlighting the proposal’s strengths and weaknesses at https://up2circ.grantplatform.com/.  

Further information

Project website: https://up2circ.eu/second-open-call/