# Alternative biomanufacturing routes for natural and synthetic rubber
EUACC page: https://www.euacc.ai/calls/HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-RIA-03
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## Public content

**topic id:** HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-RIA-03
**call id:** HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025
**title:** Alternative biomanufacturing routes for natural and synthetic rubber
**programme:** Horizon Europe
**cluster:** JU-CBE
**status:** closed
**deadline date:** 2025-09-18T00:00:00+00:00
**deadline model:** single-stage
**start date:** 2025-04-03T00:00:00+00:00
**url:** https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-RIA-03
**description:** Expected Outcome:Proposals under this topic are expected to support the EU Initiative on Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing, the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, and its action plan, the EU Zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the EU Industrial strategy, the EU Biodiversity strategy 2030, the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products.
Projects results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes:
• Wider availability of sustainable sources of natural and/or bio-based synthetic rubber supporting European industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy across various sectors of the (bio)economy.
• Competitive and robust production routes for natural and/or synthetic rubber, with high environmental performance, resource efficiency and sustainability.
• Biomanufactured alternatives to conventional natural and/or to fossil-based synthetic rubber meeting market requirements for targeted final applications
 Scope:Rubber-based products have a wide array of applications such as automotive, construction, industrial, healthcare products and consumer goods. The market is roughly equally divided between natural rubber and fossil-based synthetic rubber. Natural rubber (NR), included originally in 2017 on the list of ’critical European raw materials’, as one of the few ‘biotic’ critical raw materials, is found in more than 40,000 products and in many applications. Increasing NR demand is linked with sustainability issues, including sustainable land use, deforestation and forest degradation, labour rights, and control of potentially devastating fungal diseases. For its NR supply, Europe fully relies on imports. Natural rubber is amongst the commodities covered by the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products. Moreover fossil-based elastomeric polymers (synthetic rubber) are also widely imported from outside EU for applications into a variety of sectors including automotive, construction, etc…
Considering the future market developments and related sustainability issues, and the issue of EU strategic autonomy for critical raw materials, European rubber manufacturers are urgently looking for resource diversification, taking care about the sourcing impacts on deforestation and forest degradation, to comply with the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products. The focus is on broadening the range of sustainable natural rubber sources and alternatives to fossil based synthetic rubber for the European bio-based industry.
Proposals under this topic should:
• Identify and characterise the suitable sources of rubber-bearing genetic backgrounds (e.g., plants, yeast, microbial hosts, etc…) which are suitable for optimisation for natural and/or synthetic rubber biomanufacturing. When targeting plant-based sources, proposals should focus on implementing low-ILUC solutions.
• Develop bio-based solutions aiming at high yield of isoprenoid and/or other elastomers, e.g. by deploying the modern tools of biotechnology or other biomanufacturing approaches.
• Advance EU/AC-based production, extraction and/or processing methods, to enable high productivity and quality of high molecular weight natural rubber and/or other bio-based elastomers. Test the suitability of the developed biomanufactured alternatives into end-products.
 In addition to the specific requirements applicable for the type of action, as described in section 2.2.3.1 of the CBE JU Annual Work Programme 2025[1], proposals under this topic should:
• Address environmental aspects, aiming at lowering the overall environmental impact of the natural and /or synthetic rubber production in the EU/AC (and potentially, in the long term, globally) and at achieving its high sustainability (e.g. resource efficiency), as well as prevention of microplastics release, as appropriate.
• Ensure complementarities with past and ongoing R&I projects addressing similar challenges, including projects funded under Horizon 2020 / Horizon Europe and BBI / CBE JU[2].
• Contribute to the global discussion[3] on the sustainability of natural rubber and the alternatives developed in the project, e.g. within the ‘Dissemination and Exploitation plan’ , as appropriate.
 [1] https://www.cbe.europa.eu/reference-documents
[2] For example, project MIDAS, NORDIC BIO-RUBBER. The list is not exhaustive.
[3] For example, in the International Bioeconomy Forum, Global Bioeconomy Summit, or other appropriate thematic platforms with global partners, especially from the Global South.
**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
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
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions
 described in section 2.2.3 Calls for proposals in the CBE JU Annual Work Programme 2025

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
CBE JU Call for proposals 2025
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) 
Guidance
HE Programme Guide 
Model Grant Agreement (MGA)
HE MGA 
Call-specific instructions 
CBE JU Call for proposals 2025

Additional documents:
 HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 13. General Annexes 
HE Programme Guide 
HE Framework Programme 2021/695 
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
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
**action type:** HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
**budget:** 
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  **budget Topic Action Map:** 
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          **2025:** 172137258.88
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        **min Contribution:** 3500000
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          **2025:** 172137258.88
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          **2025:** 172137258.88
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          - 2025-09-18
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          **2025:** 172137258.88
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          - 2025-09-18
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**keywords:** HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025-RIA-03, HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025, Bio-based products (products that are manufactured using biological material as feedstock) bio-based materials, bio-based plastics, biofuels, bio-based and bio-derived bulk and fine chemicals, bio-based and bio-derived novel materials, Bioprocessing technologies (industrial processes relying on biological agents to drive the process) biocatalysis, fermentation, Plant genetic resources
**last synced at:** 2026-11-09T17:23:17.403+00:00

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No independent verification record is available.

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