The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) has launched its 2024 calls for proposals, offering € 213 million in funding to advance competitive circular bio-based industries in Europe. The deadline for submitting proposals is 18 September 2024.

Understanding the CBE JU

The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) is a public-private partnership at the forefront of advancing the circular bioeconomy in Europe. As part of the Horizon Europe framework, the CBE JU brings together the European Union, industry stakeholders, and research organizations to accelerate the transition towards a bio-based, circular economy. By fostering collaboration and providing financial support, the CBE JU aims to drive innovation, create new value chains, and promote sustainable consumption and production practices.

Changes CBE JU call 2024

As a successor to the successful Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), CBE JU welcomes participation from a wide range of actors, including research centres, universities, SMEs, and large industries. The 2024 CBE JU calls mark a significant shift in funding priorities, with almost 80% of the total budget allocated to Innovation Actions (IAs) and Flagship projects. This focus on higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) strongly emphasises accelerating the market deployment of bio-based solutions. Some key changes in the 2024 call compared to previous years include:

• The 2024 call has a stronger focus on valorising sustainable feedstocks like oil crops, natural fibres, and microalgae. There is also an emphasis on developing bio-based alternatives for animal-derived chemicals/materials, crop protection, and food/feed ingredients;
• The 2024 call aims to enlarge the portfolio of commercially produced “Safe and Sustainable by Design” (SSbD) solvents and bio-based construction materials with functional properties. Developing innovative bio-based adhesives, binders, and coating materials is another priority.
• Increased budgets for IA-Flagship topics (€20 million each) and IA topics (€15-20 million each);
• Larger total budget of €213 million, up from €120 million in 2022.

The main eligible applicants are research organisations, industries, international legal entities, and SMEs from EU Member States, associated countries, and several third countries, following the Horizon Europe rules.

Call topics CBE JU

The 2024 calls cover a wide range of topics across the bio-based value chain, from feedstock to processing and products. Funding opportunities are available for different types of actions:

• Innovation Actions (Flagships) (€ 60 million budget): Large-scale projects focused on deploying first-of-its-kind innovations in the EU market that have already been demonstrated but not yet applied at scale. The target TRL is 8 at the end of the project.
• Innovation Actions (€ 105 million budget): Projects focused on scaling up activities from prototype to large-scale product validation and market replication, including testing, demonstrating and piloting in a near-to-operational environment. The target TRL is 6-7 at the end of the project.
• Research Innovation Actions (€ 38 million budget): Projects focused on establishing new knowledge or exploring the feasibility of new or improved technologies, products, processes, services or solutions, including basic and applied research, technology development, testing, demonstration and validation on small-scale prototypes in a laboratory or simulated environment. The target TRL is 5 at the end of the project.
• Coordination and Support Action (€ 10 million budget): Projects focused on structuring stakeholder communities, supporting dissemination and exploitation of research or innovation, raising awareness, supporting technological visions and outreach, promoting international cooperation, and other similar activities. There is no specific TRL target for CSAs.

The CBE JU 2024 calls present an excellent opportunity for organisations across the bio-based value chain to contribute to the development of a competitive and sustainable bioeconomy in Europe. With increased funding, a focus on higher TRLs, and new topic areas, these calls are poised to drive significant progress in the circular bio-based economy. Within the types of actions from above, there are 18 calls available for specific topics. You can find them here.

Apply for CBE JU in 2024

Our team of experts is ready to guide you through the application process and help you identify the best funding opportunities for your organisation. Get in touch by info@hezelburcht.com or call directly at 088 495 20 00.

CBE JU Advice