Innovative circular solutions for end-of-life footwear through collection, sorting and recycling
Call 01 - single stage (2027) · HORIZON-RIA · TRL 4–5 · Needs partners
What this call funds
This call funds projects that develop practical ways to collect, sort and recycle old shoes so they don't end up in landfill. It supports testing new technologies, digital tools like AI and product passports, and new business models to make the footwear industry more circular. The goal is to give consumers, brands, and waste managers better tools to reuse and recycle footwear materials while cutting pollution from hazardous chemicals and microplastics.
circular economy · waste recycling · sustainable materials · environmental monitoring · artificial intelligence
Who wins this
A multi-stakeholder consortium spanning footwear manufacturers, SMEs, retailers, waste managers, local authorities, researchers and consumer/NGO groups that wants to build and test collection, sorting and recycling solutions for end-of-life footwear.
Could you win this call?
We read your site to see what you build.
The call in detail
- Indicative grant size
- €4M–€5M
- Funding model
- Lump sum — paid per completed work package, no financial reporting of actual costs
- Submission
- Single-stage submission (full proposal at once)
- Type of action
- HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
- Partners
- Required. The call asks for a consortium — a group applying together, typically 3+ organisations from 3+ countries.
- Eligible applicants
- industry representatives, SMEs, brand owners, producers, retailers, local authorities, waste managers, economic operators, consumer organisations, researchers, NGOs
- Also required
- Proposals must involve SSH disciplines and experts, and bring together all relevant stakeholders in the footwear value chain.
- Sectors
- AgriTech · Circular Economy
- Eligible countries (45)
- 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, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, IL, TR, UA, RS, MK, ME, AL, BA, XK, GE, AM, MD, TN, NZ
Read the full conditions from the official call ›
General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 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 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 Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the topic conditions
Who has won calls like this
Organisations that most often win this call family · 108 past winners