Improving circularity of multilayer flexible plastic food contact packaging in HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-01
7th November 2025 at 2:34 pm
Flexible plastic packaging keeps food safe and extends shelf life, but its complex multilayer structures make recycling extremely difficult. The Horizon Europe call topic HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-01 seeks to address this challenge by supporting industrial-scale innovations that enable circular use of food-contact plastics. With a deadline on 17 September 2026 and a budget of €11.00 million, this Innovation Action (IA) invites proposals that demonstrate efficient end-of-life collection, sorting and recycling into food-contact-compliant recycled materials. This topic is a key part of the EU’s Bioeconomy Strategy and Circular Economy agenda, supporting the Packaging Waste Regulation and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.
1. From complex to circular: the challenge of multilayer packaging
Multilayer flexible films combine different polymers and additives to protect food from moisture, oxygen and light. However, this very complexity prevents recycling, resulting in waste that cannot re-enter the value chain. Horizon Europe aims to redesign these materials for circularity, ensuring that flexible packaging can be collected, sorted and reprocessed into new food-grade products without compromising safety or quality.
• Focus on mono-material or simplified multilayer structures that maintain functionality while improving recyclability.
• Demonstrate how your design improves mechanical and chemical recycling yields.
• Quantify food-contact compliance according to EU Regulation 2022/1616 and EU Regulation 1935/2004.
• Show how your innovation fits into the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework.
2. Improving recycling efficiency and material recovery
A central requirement of this topic is to improve the efficiency of recycling solutions for post-consumer packaging films. Applicants must demonstrate technologies capable of closing the loop from food contact back to food contact on an industrial scale. This includes physical and chemical recycling, purification, decontamination and reprocessing steps that ensure quality and safety for reuse.
• Demonstrate high-yield, food-contact-compliant recycling processes with real packaging waste streams.
• Explore combinations of mechanical and advanced recycling technologies to maximise material recovery.
• Address energy efficiency and environmental impacts using life cycle assessment (LCA) and Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methods.
• Include partners capable of scaling production and implementing new solutions in industrial settings.
3. Eco-design and digitalisation for traceability
Designing packaging for recyclability begins at the drawing board. The European Commission (EC) expects projects to implement eco-design principles and leverage digital tools, such as AI, digital watermarks or digital product passports, to improve traceability and sorting. These technologies will be crucial to enhance sorting precision and enable better identification of food-grade materials.
• Integrate digital product passports to track composition, additives and recyclability data.
• Combine AI-based vision systems or digital watermarking to optimise sorting.
• Apply eco-design to reduce non-recyclable additives and coatings.
• Demonstrate how digitalisation supports circularity, consumer transparency and regulatory compliance.
4. Demonstrating industrial-scale impact
To achieve meaningful circularity, the EC calls for large-scale demonstrations involving the entire value chain, from polymer suppliers to recyclers. Successful projects will deliver validated solutions that work under industrial conditions, providing measurable evidence of technical feasibility, safety and socio-economic impact.
• Form a value-chain-wide consortium including converters, brand owners, retailers, waste managers and recyclers.
• Test recycling processes on real production lines and demonstrate scalability.
• Present robust evaluation frameworks, including environmental, economic and social impact data.
• Include clustering activities with other relevant Horizon Europe projects to share knowledge and align standards.
5. Engaging consumers and closing the information loop
Circularity depends not only on technology but also on behaviour. The EC expects projects to promote consumer awareness and proper disposal practices to enable effective collection and recycling. Citizen engagement and transparent communication are essential to build trust in circular packaging systems.
• Include consumer education campaigns and feedback tools to support correct disposal.
• Collaborate with civil society and consumer organisations to improve participation.
• Ensure clear labelling and recycling instructions based on harmonised EU guidance.
• Demonstrate how public awareness supports higher collection and recycling rates.
6. Demonstrating alignment with EU policy objectives
Projects funded under this topic are expected to support the EU’s Circular Economy Act, Zero Pollution Action Plan and Single Use Plastics Directive, among others. Proposals should clearly show how they contribute to Europe’s transition to a single market for sustainable products by integrating innovation with regulatory compliance and measurable circularity outcomes.
• Link your project goals directly to EU policy drivers and regulatory frameworks.
• Quantify how your solution contributes to waste reduction and carbon footprint minimisation.
• Include KPIs aligned with EU monitoring indicators for circularity.
• Highlight how your results support industrial competitiveness and environmental protection.
Do you need support with writing your proposal for circular food packaging innovation?
At accelopment, we continue to expand our Horizon Europe portfolio in support of sustainable materials, bio-based solutions and food innovations. Our experience includes projects such as MobiliTraIN, PhotonFood, REFINE and ViroiDoc. Together, these projects reflect our deep engagement with sustainability, circularity, as well as food system safety, quality and resilience across sectors. With our expertise in proposal writing, consortium coordination and impact communication, we help research teams design competitive and policy-relevant projects under Horizon Europe’s Cluster 6 and beyond.
Dr. Johannes Ripperger
Research & Innovation Manager
Andreia Cruz
Research & Innovation Project Manager