Division Resource Efficiency, green and circular economy — Annex III, Section A, point (c)(i)

Projects implementing the circular economy concept through actions spanning the value chain or ensuring the use of secondary resources/scrap materials/wastes in other industries or value chains (eco-design, cascading use of materials, repair, remanufacture, reuse, recycling, new circular business concepts, and innovative take-back and collection systems).

Projects implementing new business models for resource efficiency, including establishing resource efficiency practices in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), focussing on the environmental impact, durability, reuse, repair and recycling of their products and processes — including sharing or leasing products rather than selling them. This should involve one of the industrial sectors considered as a priority in the Roadmap for a Resource Efficient Europe; the new business model should result in a reduction in material use and/or energy and water use.

Projects promoting the implementation of the European environmental footprint methodology ^f1 through consumer and stakeholder communication, data availability, quality and traceability along the value chain, calculation simplification, and verification.

Projects linking regulatory, financial or reputational incentives to environmental performance by using EMAS or other robust, reliable (i.e. third-party verified) Union environmental management instruments.

Projects that promote Green Public Procurement through the development, in collaboration with companies, and application of common tender specifications of public authorities with similar purchasing needs (including market consultation and actual procurement activities) and of schemes that allow procurers an easy and reliable verification of green requirements, and the application of such schemes.