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HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Cluster 6 · Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Europe-wide environmental benchmarking system of the industrial bioeconomy sectors

HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-04 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingCSA · lump sumDeadline 22 September 2027around EUR 3 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-CL6-2027-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-04
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-CL6-2027-01 — Call 01 - single stage (2027)
DestinationClean environment and zero pollution (2026-27)
Type of actionCoordination and Support Actions · lump sum
Opening20 April 2027
Deadline22 September 2027
Budgetaround EUR 3 million per project · 1 project expected · EUR 3 million in total
Part B page limit28 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “The successful proposal funded under this topic will provide guidelines to industrial operators as well as administrators for contributing to the objectives of the Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions Directive, the Clean Industrial Deal and the Zero-pollution Action Plan, addressing technical goals in the scope of the Communication on boosting biotechnology and biomanufacturing in the EU…”

  1. EO1 innovative circular industrial bio-based systems – including biotechnologies and biomanufacturing – within the EU bioeconomy are deployed to decrease the environmental footprint of industries, not harm biodiversity and address climate neutrality.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

  1. EI1 Advancing scientific understanding and innovative solutions for identifying, preventing and mitigating pollution aim to effectively protect human health and safeguard the environment, preserving cleaner water and seas, healthier air and soil, and resilient forests.
  2. EI2 Innovative circular bio-based systems and biotechnologies are developed and made available to all stakeholders to progress towards the clean environment and zero-pollution ambition.
  3. EI3 Farmers and other actors in the food chain are empowered to make informed decisions and to apply novel strategies to prevent, reduce and remediate pollution from agriculture and the food system, contributing to the zero-pollution ambition.
  4. EI4 Effective solutions to remediate and decontaminate aquatic pollution are developed, made available and implemented contributing to reducing pollution to levels no longer considered harmful to the environment.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “Proposals should:. establish a forum of experts and stakeholders in the bioeconomy and in industrial bio-based systems, including representatives from academia, industry, and government.”
  • “Members of the forum should be part of the project consortium and should cover, at least, the specific sectors as described in the bullet point below;. animate the work of the forum to: select and collect data on emerging techniques (as defined in Art. 3.14 of the IED 2.0) along the whole supply and value chain of industrial bio-based systems, on a worldwide basis, but especially those being tested or used in the EU and ACs.”
  • “The scope of bioremediation applications should include landfills and mining;. include data on climate change mitigation/adaptation and on the capacity for biodiversity protection and enhancement of the selected techniques, where relevant;. align the collection of life cycle assessment (LCA) information, according to the Environmental Footprint recommendation, and the methodological guidance of the voluntary Safe and Sustainable by Design…”
  • “International cooperation is encouraged, for example in the collection of data on emerging techniques.”
  • “Synergies with projects funded under the topics on bioeconomy in the current and past Cluster 6 work programmes, and with projects assessing the best practices in the biofuels/bioenergy sectors under Cluster 5 work programmes are encouraged. ‘Emerging technique’ means a novel technique for an industrial activity that, if commercially developed, could provide either a higher general level of protection of human health and the environment or at…”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 28 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
  • Coordination and support action: no research is funded. Evaluators look for coordination, networking, dissemination or policy support with a clear audience.

Impact pathway and traps

  • International cooperation is part of the scope. Explain what the non-EU partners add and how the cooperation is organised.
  • The topic expects cooperation with other projects or initiatives. Reserve effort and budget for it in the work plan.
  • Life-cycle or safe-and-sustainable-by-design assessment is expected. Name the method and where in the work plan it runs.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

Industrial bio-based systems – made by the supply chain of bio-based feedstock and the industrial value chains - are key elements for the establishment of a fossil-free economy in the EU and Associated Countries (AC). Innovative industrial bio-based systems - also enabled by biotechnology applications - have the capacity to deliver products and services with improved environmental performances. To support the deployment of the best among such systems, it is necessary to create a framework which facilitate the benchmarking. The European Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) - based on the recently revised Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emission Directive (IED 2.0) - collects information on innovative techniques, including emerging and transformative techniques, and assesses their level of development and their environmental performance, including their cost-effectiveness and their trade-offs. Proposals should: establish a forum of experts and stakeholders in the bioeconomy and in industrial bio-based systems, including representatives from academia, industry, and government. Members of the forum should be part of the project consortium and should cover, at least, the specific sectors as described in the bullet point below; animate the work of the forum to: select and collect data on emerging techniques (as defined in Art. 3.14 of the IED 2.0) along the whole supply and value chain of industrial bio-based systems, on a worldwide basis, but especially those being tested or used in the EU and ACs. Assess their level of development and environmental performance, including their cost-effectiveness and trade-offs. Industrial bio-based systems in scope of this topic do not include food/feed, biofuels/bioenergy and health and medical devices; align the selection, the collection of relevant data and the assessment of such techniques with the approach of the European Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) and with the EU Bioeconomy Monitoring (Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy); give emphasis on relevant emerging techniques including, but not limited to, specific sectors: i) pulp & paper and bio-based chemicals, including the treatments and further conversion of industrial residues and waste from these sectors, ii) mechanical and chemical recycling of bio-based plastic, iii) bioremediation applications - also enabled by biotechnology - to remediate and regenerate polluted ecosystems. The scope of bioremediation applications should include landfills and mining; include data on climate change mitigation/adaptation and on the capacity for biodiversity protection and enhancement of the selected techniques, where relevant; align the collection of life cycle assessment (LCA) information, according to the Environmental Footprint recommendation, and the methodological guidance of the voluntary Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) Framework, where applicable; integrate the collected information and data into the Sevilla process through INCITE and into the EU Bioeconomy Monitoring (Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy). International cooperation is encouraged, for example in the collection of data on emerging techniques. Synergies with projects funded under the topics on bioeconomy in the current and past Cluster 6 work programmes, and with projects assessing the best practices in the biofuels/bioenergy sectors under Cluster 5 work programmes are encouraged. ‘Emerging technique’ means a novel technique for an industrial activity that, if commercially developed, could provide either a higher general level of protection of human health and the environment or at least the same level of protection of human health and the environment and higher cost savings than existing best available techniques, Art 3 IED 2.0. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022H2510

Other topics in HORIZON-CL6-2027-01

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.