Substances Of Concern And Emerging Pollutants From Bio-based Industries And Products: Mapping And Replacement
HORIZON Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage
- Programme
- Cluster 6 Call 01 - two stage
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- May 6, 2025
- Deadline
- September 4, 2025
- Deadline Model
- two-stage
- Budget
- €10,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €5,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €5,000,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 2
- Keywords
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stageHORIZON-CL6-2025-01-two-stage
Description
In line with the chemical strategy for sustainability and the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive, successful proposals will support the deployment of safe and sustainable by design bio-based industries and products, contributing to the de-fossilization and to the climate neutrality of EU industrial systems in a sustainable way.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- stakeholders of bio-based value chains, including in public procurement, researcher centres, industries, public administrations, final consumers, etc., gain awareness on the releases of hazardous substances, emerging pollutants and substances which are persistent and liable to bio-accumulate in ecosystems from bio-based industrial processes and from bio-based products;
- bio-based industries operators and customers improve their knowledge and use of safe and sustainable bio-based alternatives replacing hazardous substances, to achieve healthier air, water and soil.
Preventing hazardous emissions at source is key to reach the 2030 pollution reduction targets, including substances of concern, very high concern and emerging pollutants (e.g., PFAS and endocrine disrupting chemicals) as defined in relevant pieces of legislation (e.g., REACH, ESPR, Batteries regulation). Bio-based innovative solutions, also in line with the recent initiative on biotechnology and biomanufacturing and the industrial carbon management strategy, should be designed to provide the solutions to replace hazardous substances in industrial assets and in final products and materials. Bio-based materials and products within the scope of this topic do not include food/feed, biofuels and bioenergy.
The proposals should:
- track presence of substances of very high concern and of concern, emerging pollutants and substances which are persistent and liable to bio-accumulate in ecosystems emitted from a selection of bio-based materials and products. This includes substances released in all the life phases of bio-based materials and products, during their use and their end-of-life. Evaluate the exposure of targeted end users to the substances, including integrating the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) and vulnerable groups;
- include a task for the project to perform a full risk assessment of the substances emitted from the selected bio-based materials and products, also assessing the impacts on affected ecosystems and the risk for biodiversity loss;
- track presence of substances of very high concern and of concern, emerging pollutants and substances which are persistent and liable to bio-accumulate in ecosystems, emitted from a selection of industrial bio-based systems;
- include a task for the project to identify and improve a set of bio-based safe and sustainable by design (Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/25) and circular solutions, to replace hazardous substances and to increase the resources efficiency, both at the level of industrial processes and in final materials and products selected under the first and the third bullet points of this scope. The number of bio-based solutions provided is not pre-defined. The task should include the assessment of the reduction of substances of concern and emerging pollutants, derived from the substitution;
- describe the collection of recommendations and best practices to replace substances of concern with safe and sustainable by design bio-based alternatives.
Proposals should include a task dedicated to sharing methodologies and findings with all projects funded within this topic. Moreover, the projects should collect and analyse the outcomes from past and ongoing projects under EU programmes, including the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking, addressing the challenges in the scope of this topic.
For depollution to achieve zero pollution in large industrial installations, please refer to the Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) (https://innovation-centre-for-industrial-transformation.ec.europa.eu/).
Citizen Science is encouraged as a research approach for this topic. Citizen science activities should be conducted with the guidance and in close co-operation with researchers. This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines, including citizen social science and gender studies, especially in the task on risk assessment.
Multi-actor approach and international cooperation are encouraged.
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
Applicants submitting a proposal under the blind evaluation pilot (see General Annex F) must not disclose their organisation names, acronyms, logos nor names of personnel in the proposal abstract and Part B of their first-stage application (see General Annex E).
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
This topic is part of the blind evaluation pilot under which first stage proposals will be evaluated blindly.
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard application form (HE RIA IA Stage 1)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA and CSA Stage 1)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Call-specific instructions
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Frequently Asked Questions About Substances Of Concern And Emerging Pollutants From Bio-based Industries And Products: Mapping And Replacement
Support & Resources
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.
Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.
Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.
National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).
Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.
IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.
European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.
CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.
The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.
Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.
Latest Updates
GENERALISED FEEDBACK for successful applicants after STAGE 1
In order to best ensure equal treatment, successful stage 1 applicants do not receive the evaluation summary reports (ESRs) for their proposals, but this generalised feedback with information and tips for preparing the full proposal.
Information & tips
Main shortcomings found in the stage 1 evaluation of the topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage for some proposals are the following:
- The objectives did not always fully address the requirements from the topic call, such as integrating vulnerable groups, or lacks the assessment of the reduction of substances of concern resulting from substitution.
- SSH integration is present but not fully embedded in the core methodology.
- Baselines, benchmarks and assumptions used for the estimates of the scale and significance of the project's contribution to the expected outcomes and impacts are not sufficiently substantiated.
- The potential barriers to the expected outcomes and impacts are not sufficiently detailed and tend to be presented in a scattered way throughout the proposal.
In your stage 2 proposal, you have a chance to address or clarify these issues.
Please bear in mind that your full proposal will now be evaluated more in-depth and possibly by a new group of outside experts.
Please make sure that your full proposal is consistent with your short outline proposal. It may NOT differ substantially. The project must stay the same.
GENERALISED FEEDBACK for successful applicants after STAGE 1
In order to best ensure equal treatment, successful stage 1 applicants do not receive the evaluation summary reports (ESRs) for their proposals, but this generalised feedback with information and tips for preparing the full proposal.
Information & tips
Main shortcomings found in the stage 1 evaluation of the topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage for some proposals are the following:
- The objectives did not always fully address the requirements from the topic call, such as integrating vulnerable groups, or lacks the assessment of the reduction of substances of concern resulting from substitution.
- SSH integration is present but not fully embedded in the core methodology.
- Baselines, benchmarks and assumptions used for the estimates of the scale and significance of the project's contribution to the expected outcomes and impacts are not sufficiently substantiated.
- The potential barriers to the expected outcomes and impacts are not sufficiently detailed and tend to be presented in a scattered way throughout the proposal.
In your stage 2 proposal, you have a chance to address or clarify these issues.
Please bear in mind that your full proposal will now be evaluated more in-depth and possibly by a new group of outside experts.
Please make sure that your full proposal is consistent with your short outline proposal. It may NOT differ substantially. The project must stay the same.
EVALUATION results
In accordance with the General Annex F of the Work Programme, the evaluation of the first-stage proposals was made looking only at the criteria ‘Excellence’ and ‘Impact’. The threshold for both criteria was 4. The overall threshold (applying to the sum of the two individual scores) was set for each topic/type of action with separate call-budget-split at a level that allowed the total requested budget of proposals admitted to stage 2 be as close as possible to 2 times the available budget (and not below 1.5 times the budget):
Topic ID | Topic short name | Overall threshold applied |
HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage | Living labs and lighthouses co-creating innovative solutions for forests and freshwater ecosystems restoration | 9 |
HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-02-two-stage | Breeding for resilience: enhancing multi-stress tolerance in crops | 9 |
HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage | Substances of concern and emerging pollutants from bio-based industries and products: mapping and replacement | 9 |
HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-CIRCBIO-01-two-stage | Open Topic: Innovative solutions for the sustainable and circular transformation of SMEs | 9 |
The results of the evaluation for each topic are as follows:
HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-02-two-stage | HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-CIRCBIO-01-two-stage | HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage | HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage | |
Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls) | 56 | 31 | 7 | 31 |
Number of inadmissible proposals | 1 | |||
Number of ineligible proposals | 1 | |||
Number of above-threshold proposals | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals | 49,386,695.59 € | 19,695,000.00 € | 20,000,000.00 € | 27,995,000.00 € |
Summary of observer report:
“This report presents the observers’ review of the evaluation process for the first-stage proposals submitted under the HORZON-CL6-2025-01-two-stage call. The call included four topics which were HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage, HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-02-two-stage, HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-CIRCBIO-01-two-stage and HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage. The report outlines how effectively the procedures worked, how user-friendly the tools and systems were (including IT platforms), how fairly and professionally the evaluation sessions were carried out, and whether all applicable guidelines were followed. The purpose is to provide independent advice that can help enhance future EU funding evaluation practices.
In total, 125 proposals were evaluated across the four topics. The fully remote, online evaluation format proved both efficient and suitable for this phase of the two-stage call. The briefings and supporting documents the experts received were of excellent quality. Consensus discussions in SEP generally proceeded smoothly, supported by features such as the task comment box. All proposals were evaluated strictly in line with European Commission requirements and evaluation standards.
Strict confidentiality protocols were upheld throughout the process. The evaluation adhered closely to all published rules, with consistent emphasis on regulatory compliance at every stage. No breaches or irregularities were identified.
Overall, the process was well-structured, transparent, and fair, and the final scores and rankings were considered an accurate reflection of each proposal’s merit.”
We recently informed the applicants about the evaluation results for their proposals.
For questions, please contact the Research Enquiry Service.
PROPOSAL NUMBERS
Call HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-two-stage has closed on 04/09/2025.
125 proposals have been submitted.
The breakdown per topic is:
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-01-two-stage: 32
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-02-two-stage: 55
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-CIRCBIO-01-two-stage: 31
- HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-two-stage: 7
Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in December 2025.
Please note that due to a technical issue, during the first days of publication of this call, the topic page did not display the description of the corresponding destination. This problem is now solved. In addition to the information published in the topic page, you can always find a full description of the 7 destinations (Biodiversity and ecosystem services; Fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption; Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors; Clean environment and zero pollution; Land, ocean and water for climate action; Resilient, inclusive, healthy and green rural, coastal and urban communities; Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal) that are relevant for the call in the Work Programme 2025 part for “Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment”. Please select from the work programme the destination relevant to your topic and take into account the description and expected impacts of that destination for the preparation of your proposal.