Overview
This incentive scheme aims to promote the Circular Economy and regenerative production processes, while strengthening compliance with European Union environmental legislation and policy. Its objective is to increase economic productivity through the greater reintegration of recovered materials into production processes and the promotion of water circularity, taking into account the regional dimension.
Types of Operations
Under the intervention typology,Circular Economysupport may be granted to operations aimed at promoting circularity within companies, including:
- Development of new products, particularly those resulting from entrepreneurial discovery processes based on the circularity potential of different by-products and sectors;
- Optimisation of resource use and circularity, through the conversion of production processes;
- Reduction of raw material consumption, notably through the production of more sustainable packaging;
- Adoption of eco-design activities that enable the use of recyclable materials and/or by-products for the creation of new products, and the implementation of more sustainable production solutions;
- Preparation of diagnostics to reorient logistics and supply chains and to implement new circular economy business models, including product-as-a-service , material reuse and sharing economy approaches;
- Recycling and reuse of resources to promote circular economy practices.
Application Modality
Applicable Legislation
Eligible Expenditure
– Tangible assets, including the acquisition of machinery and equipment, costs directly attributable to placing them in the required location and operating conditions, as well as IT equipment, including the software necessary for its operation;
– Intangible assets, including technology transfer through the acquisition of national and international patent rights, licences, non-patented technical knowledge, and standard software or software developed for a specific purpose;
- Other investment-related costs (SMEs), including costs associated, with certified accountants or statutory auditors for the validation of expenditure in payment requests, engineering services, studies, diagnostics, audits, marketing plans, and architectural and engineering projects;
In duly justified cases, construction of buildings, refurbishment works and other construction activities.
- For operations including R&D activities , the following costs are also eligible:
I. Personnel costs related to the beneficiary’s technical staff;
II. Costs related to the acquisition of patents and/or patent applications;
III. Costs of raw materials and consumables;
IV. Costs related to the acquisition of components;
V. Costs of acquiring services from third parties;
VI. Costs related to the acquisition of instruments;
VII. Costs related to the promotion and dissemination of project results;
VIII. Travel and accommodation costs directly attributable to the operation;
IX. Costs related to the certification process of the R&D&I management system in accordance with NP 4457:2021;
X. Costs related to the intervention of a technical-scientific auditor, where applicable, and certified accountants or statutory auditors;
XI. Indirect costs, where foreseen under simplified cost options.
Nature and Aid Intensity
Investment in Tangible Assets, Intangible Assets, Other Investment Costs e Construction the following funding rates apply, up to a maximum limit of 75%:
- Up to 30 percentage points for large companies;
- Up to 40 percentage points for medium-sized companies;
- Up to 50 percentage points for micro and small companies. In accordance with the Regional Aid Map 2022–2027, these limits may be increased by 10 percentage points for the sub-regions of Alto Alentejo, Beiras and Serra da Estrela.
Possible uplifts include:
– Sectoral or territorial policy priorities:up to 20 percentage points;
– Creation of qualified employment:up to 5 percentage points;
– SME capitalisation:up to 5 percentage points;
– Management qualification:up to 5 percentage points;
Support may take the form of a grant or a hybrid instrument, combining a grant with a loan component, the latter potentially granted through a Financial Instrument financed under Portugal 2030.
For investments made within the scope of R&D activities, the following incentive rates apply:
The base financing rates for companies are up to:
– 50 % for Industrial Research;
– 25 % for Experimental Development.
Possible uplifts include:
– Company size:up to 10 percentage points for medium-sized companies or 20 percentage points for micro and small companies;
– Effective collaboration and wide dissemination of results: up to 15 percentage points, where the conditions set out in the applicable legislation are met;
– Location of the operation: up to 15 percentage points for operations located in Norte, Centro or Alentejo, and up to 5 percentage points for operations located in specific areas identified in the Regional Aid Map.
The maximum aid intensity may not exceed 80%.
The ENESII) entities may benefit from an aid intensity of up to 85%.