Topic updates

16 September 2025

Flash information on proposal numbers

The first stage of call HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-two-stage call has closed on 04/09/2025.

229 proposals have been submitted.

The breakdown per topic is:

HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-04-two-stage: 28 proposals

Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in December 2025.

11 June 2025
Please note that due to a technical issue, during the first days of publication of this call, the topic page did not display the description of the corresponding destination. This problem is now solved. In addition to the information published in the topic page, you can always find a full description of the 7 destinations (Biodiversity and ecosystem services; Fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption; Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors; Clean environment and zero pollution; Land, ocean and water for climate action; Resilient, inclusive, healthy and green rural, coastal and urban communities; Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal) that are relevant for the call in the Work Programme 2025 part for “Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment”. Please select from the work programme the destination relevant to your topic and take into account the description and expected impacts of that destination for the preparation of your proposal.

Research and innovation for food waste prevention and reduction at household level through measurement, monitoring and new technologies

TOPIC ID: HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-04-two-stage

Type of grant: Call for proposals

General information

Programme:

Call: Cluster 6 Call 02 - two stage (HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-two-stage)

Type of action: HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

Type of MGA: HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]

Status: Open for submission

Deadline model: two-stage

Opening Date: 06 May 2025

Deadline dates:
04 September 2025 17:00 (Brussels time)
18 February 2026 17:00 (Brussels time)

Topic description

Expected Outcome:

Successful proposals will be in line with the European Green Deal priorities, the revised Waste Framework Directive and the EU’s climate targets for 2030 and 2050. Actions will also be in line with the overall challenges highlighted in the updated Food 2030 pathways for action report published in December 2023^[1] on food waste and resource efficient food systems.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• successful implementation of the harmonisation of food waste measurement across Europe, supported by the development of new tools, and testing of existing ones, producing reliable and comparable data on food and waste at household level;
• alleviate the burden of reporting of household food waste data for Member States, by making use of technological innovations;
• understand the underlying causes of food waste at household level to help policymakers and stakeholders develop more efficient interventions;
• contribute to Members States’ reporting on their national food waste levels, in line with targets set by the Waste Framework Directive revision, with positive impacts on the reduction of food waste at household level, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pressure on natural resources.

Scope:

In the EU, over 59 million tonnes of food waste (132 kg/inhabitant) are generated annually^[2], with an associated market value estimated at 132 billion euros.

Eurostat roughly estimates that around 10% of food made available to EU consumers (at retail, food services and households) may be wasted. At the same time, in 2023, 9.5% of the EU population could not afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian equivalent every second day^[3]. In the EU, households generate more than half of the total food waste (54%).

Wasting food is not only an ethical and economic issue but it also depletes the environment of limited natural resources. Food waste has a huge environmental impact, accounting for about 16% of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the EU food system. Therefore, by reducing food waste we can also support the fight against climate change.

Proposals should contribute to all of the following aspects:

• develop and validate new tools and methods, and/or further test existing methods (including those developed by previous EU-funded projects), to measure and estimate food waste at household level, including the food waste discarded as or with wastewaters and that would help distinguish between amounts of avoidable (edible) fraction of food waste and non-avoidable (inedible) food waste. The potential of AI and other technologies (including ones that are currently available) to simplify the collection of data and the reporting (by being integrated in advanced monitoring solutions) should be considered. Interoperable metadata standards accompanying indicators coming from these new tools and methods should be provided. The metadata standards for edible and inedible food waste indicators should allow data to be federated through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) infrastructure;
• these new tools and methods should be applied across a large enough sample of diverse type of products and target groups (in terms of gender, age, socio-economic status, ethnic and/or cultural origins, etc.), allowing for a more precise assessment of food waste fractions (edible and inedible), across several years and in a significant number of Member States, and potentially in Associated Countries. This should generate robust measurement/estimation of food waste at household level for different target groups, at national level. The potential for extensive uptake of the proposed solution should be clearly highlighted;
• in addition to measurement, the direct and indirect drivers and root causes of food waste at household level should be thoroughly investigated. Particular attention should be paid to the identification of consumer behaviours (food consumption and disposal patterns) and other factors that influence food waste at household level, to assess the potential for a reduction strategy based on change in consumer behaviours.

In addition, proposals could explore eco-friendly, low-input and efficient technological solutions to prevent edible food from being discarded in households, e.g. by preventing product degradation.

The required multi-actor approach must be implemented by conducting inter- and trans-disciplinary research and involving a wide diversity of food system actors, with special attention paid to consumers and civil society organisations.

Proposals are encouraged to build on past or ongoing EU-funded research (in particular, the EU-funded CHORIZO and WASTELESS projects, expected to be finalised in 2025) and on the work carried out by the European Consumer Food Waste Forum^[4], and create synergies with relevant initiatives including the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.

This topic should involve the effective contribution of SSH disciplines. Citizen science is encouraged at all stages of the research activities for this topic and should be integrated in the research methodology. Proposals should take into account and address inequalities (e.g. by addressing the risk of AI bias in terms of gender, disability, ethnicity, etc.).

[1] European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Bizzo, G., Fabbri, K., Gajdzinska, M. et al., Food 2030 – Pathways for action 2.0 – R&I policy as a driver for sustainable, healthy, climate resilient and inclusive food systems, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/365011

[2] Eurostat (2024), Food waste and food waste prevention – estimates, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Food_waste_and_food_waste_prevention_-_estimates

[3] Eurostat (2024), Inability to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ilc_mdes03/default/table?lang=en

[4] https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/projects-activities/european-consumer-food-waste-forum_en

Start submission

To access the Electronic Submission Service, please click on the submission-button next to the type of action and the type of model grant agreement that corresponds to your proposal. You will then be asked to confirm your choice, as it cannot be changed in the submission system. Upon confirmation, you will be linked to the correct entry point.

To access existing draft proposals for this topic, please login to the Funding & Tenders Portal and select the My Proposals page of the My Area section.

Get support

Please read carefully all provisions below before the preparation of your application.

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.