EKOO: Circulaire economie Grant

About this grant

EKOO: Circulaire economie is a Dutch energy-innovation grant run by RVO on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, also known as KIA CE. It funds research and development of innovative circular products, services and processes, carried out by collaborations that include at least one company and, where relevant, research organisations. The scheme is a tender: applications are ranked after the closing date and the highest-scoring ones receive funding until the budget is exhausted. The eligible themes cover manufacturing of capital goods (lifting equipment, machinery, medical devices, electric motors, computers, measurement equipment), energy technologies (wind turbines, solar panel systems, electrolysers, light electric vehicle batteries, building climate installations such as heat pumps), construction and infrastructure (dwellings and offices excluding certain biobased construction, concrete bridges and viaducts, road surfaces), and consumer goods (electric and electronic appliances, furniture, textiles, non-plastic packaging and disposable products). Energy technologies may be combined with circular strategies that do not concern critical raw materials. Excluded are projects focused mainly on recycling or recovery of raw materials, projects falling under the sister schemes EKOO Circulaire plastics, EKOO Biobased Circular or EKOO Critical raw materials, and large collaborative or large innovation projects (which may instead go to MOOI), as well as pilot and demonstration projects (DEI+) and fundamental research (NWO, NWA, PPS Innovatie). Supported costs are technological research and development aimed at new or substantially improved products, services or processes, consumer, business or earning-model research, or a combination. Projects must last at most two years, the innovation must reach the market within ten years of project start, and work must not begin before the application is submitted. Free project-idea consultation with RVO advisers is available before applying, with the project idea form open until 16 November 2026.

Eligibility

Applicants must be a collaboration of organisations within a single project, with at least one enterprise involved. Research organisations may participate. Collaboration must be genuine, meaning participants bear financial and content responsibility for their share, contribute roughly equal effort and financing, and the project may not be fully outsourced. At least one small or medium-sized enterprise must be included, and no single enterprise may account for more than 70% of costs. Research organisations must account for at least 10% of costs and be allowed to publish their own results. Enterprises in difficulty (as defined under the General Block Exemption Regulation) are not eligible, though de minimis aid up to EUR 300,000 per three years may be sought in some cases. The project must fit one of the listed themes, and work must not have started before submission. Applicants must use an eHerkenning credential to apply in the Netherlands.

How it's scored

Applications are ranked against each other after the closing date and funded in order of score until the budget runs out. Higher scores are given for a strong contribution to the scheme's objectives, a higher likelihood of market and societal success in the Netherlands compared with other applications, greater innovativeness (breakthrough technologies score higher than incremental ones), and the strengthening of the Dutch knowledge position. Quality of the application is also assessed through the description of the approach, handling of risks, feasibility, the partners involved in the collaboration, and the effectiveness and efficiency of the resources requested.

Key requirements

• ✓Must be a collaborative partnership (samenwerkingsverband) doing R&D on innovative circular products, processes or services
• ✓Innovation must reach the market no later than 10 years after project start
• ✓Applications accepted from 22 October 2026 through 3 December 2026

Funder contact

The notice names a programme contact you can speak to before applying.

Frequently asked questions

How much funding does Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) offer?

EKOO: Circulaire economie offers $500K.

When is the EKOO: Circulaire economie deadline?

Applications close 3 Dec 2026 16:00.

Who can apply for EKOO: Circulaire economie?

Eligibility covers organisations in NL; consortium, sme, large-company, research-institution, university. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Circular economy funding supports reuse, repair, remanufacturing, product redesign and secondary materials markets. Grants tend to back pilots with businesses and local authorities, while tenders buy collection, sorting and recovery services. Applicants are usually asked to show the material flows involved and who will buy the recovered output.