LIFE Programme of the European Commission
The LIFE program provides direct grants from the European Commission for projects aimed at environmental protection. Projects must be related to the development and demonstration of innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse emissions, pollution and waste, circular and efficient use of resources, the transition to clean energy and the protection of nature and biodiversity. In certain cases, the projects may also be related to the application of existing good practices. Projects must aim to solve a specific problem and achieve a significant positive impact. The developed and demonstrated solution should have the potential for wider dissemination and replication.
Additional information:
The amount of the grant is between 1 and 5 million euros, and the budget of the entire projects - from 2 to 10 million euros. Supported projects are not related to direct profit generation and would hardly be implemented without external support.
Projects usually require at least three partners from more than one EU member state or associated country. Partners can include businesses, scientific institutions, public institutions and non-governmental organizations.
Grant funding is up to 60% of the eligible costs of the project, which include:
- the remuneration of the team developing the innovation,
- depreciation of the equipment (in rare cases also the entire cost of new equipment),
- costs of consumables and materials,
- purchase of land
- indirect costs.
The application is submitted directly to the European Commission and is open at least once a year.
Projects can be in the following sample areas:
- Climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Circular economy and zero pollution
Climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Dedicated infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles, including fast charging points for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles with or without energy storage. Smart solutions for (two-way) charging;
- Hydrogen refueling facilities, including green hydrogen production;
- Decarbonisation of non-road transport;
- Reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from industrial production and waste management;
- Improving the recovery, recycling and reuse of waste materials in order to reduce the use of carbon dioxide and primary raw materials;
- Increasing carbon storage and capture capacity, reducing carbon emissions and providing other sectors with bio-based renewable materials that have less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil-based ones;
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, incl. reducing the use of fluorinated greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances and activities to support the transition to zero-emission mobility (the focus is on projects addressing alternatives to fluorinated gases, the regeneration and recycling of fluorinated greenhouse gases);
- Reduction of ammonia emissions in production;
- Land and water management practices impacting emissions and their elimination; conservation and enhancement of natural carbon reservoirs;
- Industrial processes for simultaneous energy storage and CO2 capture and utilization;
- Actions to support the transition to zero-emission mobility in road transport;
- Decarbonisation of other modes of transport, promotion of intramodality and modal shift;
- Bio lubricants from urban waste sludge waters;
- Increasing the production and use of renewable energy and improving energy efficiency;
- Removing emerging pollutants from textile wastewater;
- Production of biogas and biomethane from waste and residues;
- Activities leading to the reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in industrial production and waste management;
- Activities that enhance carbon removal from soils and biomass;
- Practices that protect existing carbon stocks in soils and biomass (e.g. peatland restoration);
- Promotion of carbon farming approaches;
- Industrial solutions for removal, carbon capture, use and/or storage;
- Reduction of water use by increasing water-saving characteristics of product;
Circular economy and zero pollution
- Separate collection and recycling of waste, electrical equipment, batteries andaccumulators;
- Dismantling, remanufacturing and recycling of end-of-life vehicles and ships;
- Sorting, separate collection and recycling of plastics, bio-waste and textiles;
- Improving air quality and reducing emissions in areas such as quarries, mining,mineral processing or other dust-generating activities;
- Reduction of chemical pollutants in the aquatic environment by reducingemissions of substances and chemicals at the source of pollution through the useof appropriate substitutes;
- Soils (technologies for restoration, protection and improvement of soil quality);
- Separate collection and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment, in particular but not limited to photovoltaic panels, smartphones, tablets and computers;
- Separate collection and recycling of batteries and accumulators;
- Sorting and recycling of plastics;
- Separate collection and recycling of bio-waste or textiles;
- Recycling of composite and multilayer materials, carbon or glass fibers;
- Packaging sorting and recycling;
- Clean oxyfuel combustion technology with waste heat recovery for glass melting furnaces;
- Implementation of innovative solutions for the identification, tracking, separation and decontamination of waste containing hazardous substances (e.g. asbestos), with the aim of recycling with added value of treated waste and the safe disposal of hazardous substances.
- Prevention and reduction of the impact on the environment or human health of dangerous substances - biocides, pesticides, etc.
- Use of non-toxic substitutes for biocides in paints and coatings.
- Low-energy recycling of carbon fiber composites;
Examples of successful projects that have received grant funding
