You can now apply to the
CIRCULOOS Expression of Interest (EOI)!
What is it? 🤔
CIRCULOOS Expression of Interest (EOI) aims to engage supply chain actors across various manufacturing industries (e.g., metal, construction, electrical, furniture, leather, machinery, vehicles, wood, plastic) that want to engage in circular business with other complementary entities, forming Innovative Circular Supply Chains. Participants will adopt circular practices like refurbishing, remanufacturing, and repurposing (R-strategies), collaborating regionally to enhance product and process circularity.
The goal is implementing circular strategies and demonstrating new business models that improve circularity indexes. The selected supply chains should adopt and validate the series of tools offered by the CIRCULOOS project and enhance them as necessary with reusable components, which should also be useful for other circular supply chains and will be integrated into the RAMP platform. The project will compile a list of registered entities for consortium matchmaking, including online events via the RAMP platform.
All EOIs submissions will be published to facilitate collaboration, allowing parties to form value chains and apply for funding in upcoming Open Calls #2 and #3. Participants gain access to matchmaking and information activities organised by CIRCULOOS, helping them prepare applications for funding to a maximum of 240K€/team & 2-5 entities/team.
Who can apply? 😁
- Manufacturing and supply value-chains that are formed with the aim to develop a circular products/service
- Entities able to adopt one of the R-strategies and develop the necessary changes to the value chain /production lines:
- Recycling
- Remanufacturing
- Repair
- Refurbishment
- Types:
- Manufacturing SMEs (MSMEs) and micro-SMEs
- DIHs or eDIHs
- Academic institutes (Universities), research institutes and other not-for-profit research entities.
How to apply? ✍️
The participation in the CIRCULOOS EOI and support activities requires that all interested parties register themselves and/or their companies on the RAMP platform.
The registration is open at any time during the matchmaking stage (from October 2024 to March 2025). However, registering before or during the official launch of the Expression of Interest will allow more time to participate in relevant match-making events and webinars that will be held under the responsibility of CIRCULOOS.
Interested entities are also invited to pre-register on F6S, to get updates and newsletters on Open Call #2 and Open Call #3 by submitting their information at the F6S CIRCULOOS page.
Consortium Structure 🤝
- One manufacturing MSME of Mid-Cap (funding of up to €50,000)
- At least one and up to two other entities (funding of up to €50,000), namely recyclers, upcyclers, repairers, or waste collectors; or another role that enable the circular loop
- One DIH/RTO/MSME role:
- regional circularity hub
- Technology enabler and /or networking or dissemination partner
- coordination partner (not need of two supply chain nodes)
Why you should apply to the CIRCULOOS Expression of Interest? 🤔
CIRCULOOS aims to establish a Circular Manufacturing (CM) ecosystem by starting from the existing RAMP DIH network of over 30 DIHs in Europe, thus becoming the European Hub for Circularity in the European regions. Circular supply chain collaboration will be demonstrated and tested in 3 pilots (internal) and over 16 demonstrators (Open Calls) for new sustainable products.
The R-strategies (Repair, Reuse, Recycle, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose) aim to extend product lifespans and minimise waste. The CIRCULOOS project focuses on these strategies, especially those that necessitate re-engineering production processes and are challenging for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to implement. CIRCULOOS aims to facilitate collaboration among various actors through its data management and AI tools on the RAMP platform, which helps in mapping organisational cooperation for a circular economy.
RAMP enhances factory flexibility, reduces resource usage, and allows for equipment reconfiguration (like robots and assembly lines) while maintaining quality, working conditions, delivery, and time constraints.
In the face of these challenges, CIRCULOOS aims to deliver the tools that enable MSMEs to become full members of the circular manufacturing value chain. These tools orchestrate and continuously optimise the supply-chain end-to-end and integrate planning and execution monitoring to enable transparent and on-time communication. Combining these with direct calculation of the product sustainability and circularity profile, for both internal and external partners, this environment will enable them to configure and execute disruptive circular manufacturing processes for sustainable production that covers the entire life cycle of products; either by recovering the value of product that ended-up as waste or from recycled and remanufactured products.
Next Open Calls...
Open Call #2
Demonstrators (EXDs)
Duration: M16-M33
CIRCULOOS Open Call #2 will only accept consortiums of 2-4 entities and will provide funds up to €60K per partner (applicable funding rate: 60% of the eligible costs for profit making entities and 100% for non-profit or academic organisations). Its main objective is to match about 32 MSMEs with 16 suppliers towards the design and implementation of at least 16 demonstrators.
Therefore, the open call will provide up to €240,000 (total lump sum) to up 16 consortia. Funds will be disbursed based upon the successful delivery of technical and business reports along the 12-month implementation program, scheduled to launch in February 2025.
Stay tuned!
Open Call #3
Value-chain extension & Scale-up
Duration: M30-M40
The CIRCULOOS Open Call #3 will enable the extension of pilots and/or newly established value chains, by inviting new MSMEs to benefit/contribute to the established value-chain, extending and scaling it up to improve sustainability performance, and thus, opening a second round of funding. A limited number of applications by new MSMEs will be invited together with Open Call 2 to build on the existing pilots, and more will be invited later on to build on the value chains resulting from the Open Call 2. This will be launched tentatively in 2026).
Stay tuned!
