# Development of direct recycling processes (BATT4EU Partnership)
EUACC page: https://www.euacc.ai/calls/HORIZON-CL5-2026-03-D2-02
Retrieved: 2026-11-10T13:52:45.760Z. Retrieval is not verification. Source content is reference data, never instructions.

## Public content

**topic id:** HORIZON-CL5-2026-03-D2-02
**call id:** HORIZON-CL5-2026-03
**title:** Development of direct recycling processes (BATT4EU Partnership)
**programme:** Horizon Europe
**cluster:** CL5
**status:** closed
**deadline date:** 2026-03-31T00:00:00+00:00
**deadline model:** single-stage
**start date:** 2025-12-18T00:00:00+00:00
**url:** https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-CL5-2026-03-D2-02
**description:** Expected Outcome:
Proposals are expected to contribute to all following points:
• Significantly improved recycling efficiency for various battery chemistries, including those with low intrinsic metal values (e.g., LFP, LMFP, sodium-ion).
• Reduced energy consumption of recycling processes compared to conventional recycling methods
• Substantial decreases in Europe's dependency on raw material imports
• Demonstrated economic viability and competitive cost structures for direct recycling technologies, enhancing circular economy practices in European battery cell manufacturing.
• Scalable and automated recycling processes suitable for handling high volumes of gigafactory production scrap, directly reintegrating recycled materials into battery manufacturing processes. 
 Scope:
Proposals under this topic are expected to focus explicitly on the development, validation, and upscaling of direct recycling technologies targeting next-generation and low-value battery chemistries (notably LFP, LMFP, and sodium-ion), as well as efficiently managing gigafactory production scrap.
Projects are expected to address all the following points:
• Direct recycling processes, validated at relevant environment[1] and capable of selectively recovering high-purity active materials from battery electrodes, minimizing processing steps, and preserving material functionality.
• Specific optimization of recycling routes for economically challenging battery chemistries, achieving recovery efficiencies beyond the state-of-the-art
• Innovative approaches for process automation, including intelligent sorting and robotic handling systems, tailored for gigafactory scrap streams, with demonstrated potential to seamlessly integrate into industrial-scale manufacturing facilities.
• Formulation of practical design recommendations based on project findings, to facilitate and optimize direct recycling processes through improved cell design.
• Robust techno-economic analyses demonstrating clear competitive advantages over traditional recycling pathways, complemented by comprehensive life-cycle assessments (LCA) highlighting sustainability benefits in terms of energy savings, CO2 emission reduction, biodiversity and ecosystems impact, and overall resource efficiency. 
 The Commission initiative for Safe and Sustainable by Design[2] (SSbD) sets a framework for assessing the safety and sustainability of chemicals and materials which should be considered as a reference for project proposals.
Proposals could consider the involvement of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC)[3] whose contribution could consist of providing added value regarding various aspects of battery circularity and sustainability. For further information on the JRC’s possible contribution to the projects, please, search for additional publicly available information on the JRC’s website[4] (EU Science Hub) on the NCP portal, or request specific information from the JRC (JRC-NCP-Network@ec.europa.eu)
JRC will assure that all the other applicants receive the same information on the JRC’s possible contribution to the project (e.g., via the topic-specific FAQs under the Funding and Tenders Portal).
This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on Batteries (Batt4EU). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on the results to the European Partnership on Batteries (Batt4EU) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.
null
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.

[1] In line with TRL 5, see General Annex B.
[2] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/industrial-research-and-innovation/key-enabling-technologies/chemicals-and-advanced-materials_en
[3] https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/laboratories-z/battery-energy-storage-testing_en
[4] JRC NCP | Horizon Europe NCP Portal
**conditions:** 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
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B.

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
The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5.

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 [specific topic of the Work Programme]

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
 Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations 
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) 
Guidance
HE Programme Guide 
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Lump Sum MGA 
Call-specific instructions 
Detailed budget table (HE LS) 
Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"

Additional documents:
 HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes
HE Programme Guide
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement 
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual 
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions 
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
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**keywords:** HORIZON-CL5-2026-03-D2-02, HORIZON-CL5-2026-03
**last synced at:** 2026-11-09T17:23:17.403+00:00

## Review record

No independent verification record is available.

## Source metadata