Deadline Date: September 23, 2026
The Nordic Innovation call supports collaborative projects aimed at developing industrial value chains for the use of secondary critical raw materials across the Nordic region.
The focus areas include critical raw materials, recycling and circular economic development, industrial value chain creation, waste and industrial side stream utilisation, resource efficiency, green and digital transition support, and reduction of technical, operational, and economic barriers in material recovery and processing.
This call for proposals is designed to support the development of concrete, industry-driven value chains that enable the use of secondary critical raw materials in industrial applications. It addresses the strategic need to strengthen supply security for critical raw materials, which are essential for both the green and digital transition.
The initiative highlights Europe’s dependence on imported critical raw materials and aims to improve domestic supply capacity in line with the objectives of the Critical Raw Materials Act. The Nordic region is identified as having significant untapped potential, with large quantities of critical materials embedded in waste and industrial side streams.
Projects supported under this call are expected to begin with a clearly defined feedstock containing critical raw materials sourced from waste or industrial side streams. They must bring together relevant actors across the value chain, including collection, sorting, processing, industrial use, and end-use applications.
The projects must demonstrate industrial relevance and clear market demand while also addressing and reducing key technical, operational, or economic barriers that limit the effective use of secondary critical raw materials.
Funding of NOK 10 million has been allocated to this call, with individual project funding requests expected to range between NOK 2,000,000 and NOK 5,000,000 depending on project scope and requirements.
Eligible project partners may include recycling and waste management companies, process industry actors, technology providers, end-users, research and innovation institutions, public sector actors, and clusters. Strong industrial participation and access to relevant material streams are important considerations in the evaluation process.
To be eligible, projects must be implemented by a consortium consisting of at least three partners from three different Nordic countries, ensuring cross-border collaboration and regional integration.
The call aims to strengthen industrial innovation and resource efficiency in the Nordic region by enabling the development of sustainable and scalable value chains for critical raw materials.
For more information, visit Nordic Innovation.
