@alexugalek - Adobe Stock
Publication date:
Today CBE JU published its Annual Work Programme, including information about the 2022 call for project proposals. A total of €120 million will be dedicated to advance competitive circular bio-based industries in Europe across 12 topics. Discover more about the upcoming funding opportunities during the CBE JU Info Day and networking event on 7 June 2022.
Several strategic funding priorities
The mission of CBE JU is to advance a competitive bioeconomy for a sustainable Europe, in line with the commitments set out in the European Green Deal and the EU Bioeconomy Strategy. To achieve this goal, in 2022, the public-private partnership will fund projects developing innovative and sustainable bio-based solutions, with a focus on these strategic priorities: feedstock, processing, products, as well as cross-cutting aspects of communication, finance and environmental sustainability.
These priorities are set in the CBE JU’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for the 2022-2030 period. The strategic document was developed jointly by both founding partners of CBE JU, the European Commission and the Bio-based Industries Consortium, with the support of the Programme Office, and adopted by the CBE JU Governing Board.
The partnership will only fund projects that respect the principles of circularity, sustainability, and planetary boundaries
CBE JU Executive Director Philippe Mengal
‘To deliver on its objectives, the partnership will only fund projects that respect the principles of circularity, sustainability, and planetary boundaries. Consequently, CBE JU will significantly contribute to the EU’s climate targets for 2030, paving the way for climate neutrality by 2050, and advancing circular and sustainable production in line with the European Green Deal,’ CBE JU Executive Director Philippe Mengal stated in the opening message of the work programme.
12 funding topics with a €120 million budget
CBE JU will open for submission of project proposals 12 topics with a total indicative budget of €120 million:
- Biogenic carbon capture and use (CCU) for circular bio-based products - €10 million
- Cooperative business models for sustainable mobilisation and valorisation of agricultural residues, by-products, and waste in rural areas - €10 million
- Cost-effective production routes towards bio-based alternatives to fossil-based chemical building blocks - €12 million
- Co-processing of mixed bio-based waste streams - €12 million
- Maximum valorisation of sustainably sourced bio-based feedstock in multi-product, zero-waste, zero-pollution biorefinery - €14 million
- Alternative sources for high added value food and/or feed ingredients - €14 million
- High performance bio-based polymers for market applications with stringent requirements - €9 million
- Bio-based coatings, barriers, binders, and adhesives - €9 million
- Circular-by-design bio-based materials to improve the circularity of complex structures - €9 million
- Proteins from alternative and unconventional sources - €9 million
- Sustainable fibres biorefineries feedstock - €9 million
- Developing and validating monitoring systems of environmental sustainability and circularity: collection of best practices and benchmarks - €3 million
The CBE JU call’s budget comes from Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation funding programme. It will be published on the EU’s Funding & tender opportunities portal. Each euro of public funding will be complemented by private investments.
Three types of funded projects
CBE JU will fund three types of actions:
- Research and Innovation Actions establish new knowledge or explore the feasibility of new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution.
- Innovation Actions scale up activities from prototype to product validation and market replication. Among them, Flagships deploy the first-of-its-kind innovation in the European market.
- Coordination and Support Actions structure stakeholder communities, support technological visions and outreach, and disseminate and exploit research results, among others.
Each topic text specifies the required type of action.
Funding opportunities for all participants of the bio-based ecosystem
All stakeholders of the bio-based industries ecosystem – farmers, brand owners, companies, research organisations and local authorities, to name just a few - are invited to apply for CBE JU funding.
CBE JU has launched a free networking platform to help stakeholders get in touch with each other, pitch their project ideas or offer their services and search for partners. Nearly 600 people have already joined the platform since its opening on 10 May 2022.
7 June: First CBE JU Info Day and networking event
On 7 June 2022, CBE JU will organise an online information and networking event dedicated to the call. Speakers from the CBE JU Programme Office and founding partners will present the new partnership, the SRIA, as well as the call topics and how to apply for the call.
The info day will be streamed online, and participants will have the opportunity to ask questions before and throughout the event during the dedicated Q&A sessions.
The second part of the info day will be dedicated to networking. Registered participants can arrange meetings on the CBE JU networking platform from 7 June in the afternoon up until the call closure.
See more information about the info day and the agenda.
Three months to submit a project proposal
The call is expected to open on 22 June and close on 22 September 2022. Follow the information on the CBE JU website for more updates.