EC: Biodegradable Polymers for Sustainable Packaging Materials (IA)

Scope

• Proposals should address at least four of the following activities:
  • Develop new, demonstrate and scale-up novel advanced bio-degradable polymer materials and innovative processes that will allow the bio-degradable polymers to be produced at a large scale with a similar economy of scale to replace present production with PE, PP and PET, and with an improved sustainability profile compared to present production and EoL characteristics.
  • Develop sustainable additives and catalysts to support the production of bio-degradable polymers.
  • Provide evidence with life cycle and techno-economic assessment (LCA/TEA) that the cost for the novel advanced biodegradable polymer products are not significantly higher compared to existing polymer products (PE, PP, PET) on the market.
  • Scale up the production of packaging materials at pilot level.
  • Identify and test the biodegradability pathways in all environmentally relevant conditions (for the application of the developed material in relevant shape or form); and extensive quantified risk analysis from both a human and environmental perspective for all the different intermediate and end products of biodegradation, including quantification of the contribution to GHG emissions. Contribute to further defining standards and labels for specific applications. Model the lifetime of the developed polymers along the biodegradation pathway in environmentally relevant conditions, both in natural, (terrestrial and marine), and in waste processing environments.
  • Demonstrate complete biodegradability in all relevant conditions and environmental compartments (e.g. landfill, compost site, litter in marine-freshwater-sediment-soil) within acceptable timeframes, determination of the main influencing environmental conditions; and assessment of the impact on the environment. Integrate a holistic sustainability assessment, accounting for the full life cycle (including sourcing of feedstock).
• Develop and demonstrate circular business model for production at industrial level, where the release of GHG emissions is; and assess significantly reduced; and assess the potential of secondary raw materials as a feedstock (including from renewable sources) for the production of bio-degradable polymers.
• To enable a fast development of new advanced materials, digital tools, such as modelling and simulation, and characterisation techniques (including those provided by analytical infrastructures) are under the scope, assisted by advanced methods, e.g. physics-based methods or artificial intelligence (including machine learning).
• The future Commission initiative for Safe and Sustainable by Design will set a framework for assessing safety and sustainability of chemicals and materials and should be considered as a baseline in the proposal.
• Proposals submitted under this topic should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination.
• This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. An early involvement of end users could be essential.
• Projects should build on or seek collaboration with existing projects (e.g. Open Innovation Testbeds) and develop synergies with other relevant European, national or regional initiatives, funding programmes and platforms. Where relevant, proposals should seek links with and capitalise on the results of past and ongoing EU funded research projects, including the ones under Cluster 6 ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’ and Circular Bio-based Europe JU (CBE JU).

Funding Information

The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:

• public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
• cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).

Expected Outcome

Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• The packaging industry will have access to the next generation of biodegradable polymer materials, which will also be recyclable materials. Plastic materials producers will switch from PP, PE, and PET to bio-degradable materials with reduced GHG emissions along the value chain.
• The packaging industry will apply business model of circularity-by-design and sustainable end-of-life (EoL) solutions for plastic packaging materials. This has the potential to lead to a reduction in landfill waste volume of packaging materials; and to a reduction of littering of plastics, coherent with the ambition of the Horizon Europe Ocean and Waters mission, to reduce the plastic pollution of the oceans. Projects are expected to contribute to the Plastics strategy, the Single-use Plastics Directive and the EU Circular Economy Action plan (CEAP).
• Standards and labels for specific applications will be further defined based on the development of testing of biodegradability of plastics in open environments.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility Entities eligible to participate
  • Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
  • A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
  • Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting their application, in order to get a participant identification code (PIC) and be validated by the Central Validation Service before signing the grant agreement. For the validation, they will be asked to upload the necessary documents showing their legal status and origin during the grant preparation stage. A validated PIC is not a prerequisite for submitting an application.
• Entities eligible for funding
  • To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding.
  • To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
    • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
    • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States: Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
    • countries associated to Horizon Europe; Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine.
• Specific cases:
  • Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities are eligible for funding if they are established in one of the countries listed above, or in a country identified in the specific call conditions.
  • Associated partners — Entities not eligible for funding (and therefore not able to participate as beneficiaries) may participate as associated partners, unless specified otherwise in the specific call conditions.
  • Coordination and Support Actions – To be eligible to participate as beneficiaries (or affiliated entities) in ‘Coordination and support’ actions, legal entities must be established in a Member State or Associated Country, unless the specific call conditions provide otherwise. Legal entities established in a non-associated third country may, however, participate in ‘Coordination and support’ actions as associated partners, unless this is explicitly excluded by the specific call conditions.
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law may also be eligible to receive funding, unless their basic act states otherwise.
  • International organisations — International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding.

For more information, visit European Commission.