The Innovation, Technology and Circular Economy Fund (FITEC) finances collaborative projects centred on supporting knowledge transfer between universities, companies and technology centres. Target areas for funding include energy efficiency and the circular economy. The Fund is a joint effort of three ministries responsible for the economy, science and environment, and is managed by the Portuguese financial institution for development (IFD).

Total budget of the fund: € 15 million for the year 2017.

Eco.nomia is an online portal by the Portuguese Ministry of  Environment supporting the circular economy. The portal's mission is to be a knowledge repository, disseminate information, develop case studies, and to finance public institutions, companies and consumers working on circular economy projects. It also aims to facilitate interaction among interested parties.

The aim of the guide is to provide SMEs with an orientation in approaches to maximize positive and reduce the negative impacts of business - i.e. to achieve eco-efficiency. The guide provides simple procedures to identify where the company has a potential for the greatest savings and other improvements, and which tools can be the most effective to implement. The recommendations in the guide are based on the experience of implementing eco-efficient practices in a number of SMEs. The guide also shows how to implement the procedures on the model enterprise.

Re:Source is a strategic research platform financed by the Swedish Energy Agency. It finances projects in the field of remanufacturing, re-use and recycling. Both research-oriented stakeholders and companies can participate. The starting point is waste or byproducts. The project targets new technologies and services as well as system solutions, energy recovery, biological treatment, and business and organisational models.

The programme runs from 2016 to 2019 with the total allocation of SEK 150 million (~€ 15 million).

Formas, the Swedish Research Council, publishes a yearly open call for proposals by researchers in one of three defined priority areas: environment, agricultural sciences, and spatial planning.

There has to be a strong research component (i.e. often universities apply) in this call and a focus on global sustainability goals including climate, water, ecosystems, pollution, food, animals, consumption and production, built environment, cities and countryside, and governance.

Maxumum funding is SEK 9 million (~€ 0.9 million) per project.

 The Energy Technology Product list (ETPL) is a UK government-managed list of energy efficient plant and machinery, such as boilers, electric motors and machinery that qualify for full tax relief. For a product to be on the List, it must meet specific energy-saving or energy-efficiency criteria; this is a part of the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) tax scheme for businesses.

Supported measures: projects directly involved in the circular economy (i.e. demonstrable capital projects and innovative business models)

This fund is the energy-efficiency support service for SMEs in England, Wales and Scotland. It provides direct funded support through energy assessments, training workshops, equipment procurement support and up to £ 5 000 (~€ 5 600) capital contribution per company towards energy-saving equipment purchase.

The objective of the Catalan Circular Economy Projects Programme is to promote the transition of companies into a Circular Economy model, improving efficiency in the use of materials and decoupling global economic development from resource consumption.

Companies or groups of companies that have at least one operating establishment located in Catalonia or associations of companies that operate in Catalonia are eligible for funding.

Two types of projects are granted finanical support:

Subsidies to companies for environmental investments aimed at: protecting the environment (up to 60 %), adaption to future EU standards (up to 20 %), carrying out environmental studies (up to 70 %), waste recycling and reuse (up to 55 %), sanitation of contaminated sites (100 %), and external consultant services in environmental matters for SMEs (up to 50 %).

Budget: € 1.5 million per year (2018 - last call)

Available in: Basque country

Support for Basque companies applying for European RTD funding, mainly Horizon 2020 and LIFE. Project proposals under these EU programmes need to demonstrate their excellence and score very well to succeed. Small grants to cover time and expenses (flights to attend meetings, paying experts, etc.) incurred in project proposals are covered.

Budget: € 100 000 per year (2018 - last call)

Funding: 60 %; up to €14 000 per project proposal (depending on several criteria)

Available in: Basque country