The annual Circular Business Awards by the EU CERC recognise and celebrate best practices in the circular economy as implemented and promoted by businesses.
The Circular Business Awards by the EU CERC are an annual recognition targeted at enterprises in countries eligible for ODA support (see country list below). The award is part of the annual Circular Awards by the EU CERC which also includes a separate Policy Implementation Award.
Each year, two circular business prizes will be awarded: one for a circular business in a specific sector and one for a young woman entrepreneur on any sector. In 2027, the sector will be Construction & Buildings.
The EU CERC will award these two annual prizes to a company and a person who are inspiring examples promoting circular business models. In both cases, the company must be micro-, small or medium size; based in an EU partner country; and active for at least three years. In addition to these, the young female entrepreneur prize is aimed at companies that are (co-)founded and still (co-)led by a young female entrepreneur who is currently not older than 35 years.
A jury nominated by the EU CERC will judge the participating initiatives based on a set of criteria. These include the type of circular business model and the reduction of resource use, along with aspects of innovation and links to the EU markets. The winners will be announced at the World Circular Economy Forum 2027. Both winners will be invited to participate in WCEF2027 to receive the award including tailored EU CERC exchange, coaching, visibility and promotion of a value of EUR 10,000.
The WCEF is a landmark event of the year that brings together business leaders, policymakers and experts to present the world’s best circular economy solutions. The 2027 event will take place in New York City in June 2027.
Check out the rules of the business awards!
The Policy Business Awards by the EU CERC are open to applications from the following ODA recipient countries:
The country list above is based on OECD’s listing of ODA recipient countries, with some exceptions.
Apply through the application form below. The application can be submitted in English, Spanish or French. Please note that all applications will be handled and evaluated in English (translated from Spanish or French, if necessary), and all official communications by EU CERC will be done in English.
Thank you for your interest in the EU CERC circular business awards 2027. To us, everyone completing the questionnaire is a winner of sorts, showing your interest, supporting our global effort to become more circular. Thank you for participating!
Click the buttons below to fill in the application form in the language of your choice (English, French or Spanish). All language versions include the country list in English. Please note that all EU CERC communication will be done in English only.
The EU CERC will hand out two 2027 Circular Business Awards, one for a company active in the Construction & Buildings sector and one for a young woman entrepreneur, in both cases applying circular business models. Both business awards use the same questionnaire.
Please note that if you do not finalise and send the application form immediately, the system will automatically save your answers for two weeks, allowing you to come back and complete the form. Here’s how the form is structured:
Before starting, prepare at least these three documents to be uploaded at the end:
Name these documents clearly: start with your company name, followed by the document’s content, as described above.
In case your attachments are very large, you can also send these documents by email.
If you have any questions before, during or after filling in the application form, please contact us via eucerc@enabel.be.
Thank you, and good luck!
The Enabel EU CERC team
By applying, you acknowledge that your information shall be processed in accordance with EU CERC’s Privacy Policy and you will receive information through the WCEF newsletter.
The applicants must meet several minimum criteria to be eligible and accept the terms and conditions of the award. The applications will be evaluated based on a set of criteria mentioned below. Please see also the full rules of the competition.
The two circular business awards target (i) a company active in one specific sector (different sector each year) and (ii) a company (co-)founded by a young female entrepreneur.
For either of the awards, the applicant must meet the following technical requirements:
We aim to identify companies that contribute to the circular economy, leading to a reduced need for resources, with inspiring business models that have good potential to be replicated and be linked to EU markets. We include in the assessment the aspects of innovation and gender equality.
The questionnaire will pose these seven questions, each time followed by an open question to further explain.
Based on the answers to these questions, the jury will make a shortlist of companies to be invited for online video or audio interviews. These interviews will be crucial for determining the winner in each category.
For any questions, click below to reach out to us!
Expert, Circular Economy
+32 475 851 571
frederik.vandenbosch@enabel.be
Project Manager
nicoletta.favaretto@enabel.be
The EU CERC is a joint initiative
The EU Circular Economy Resource Centre (EU CERC) is a joint initiative of the European Commission, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and the Belgian agency for international cooperation Enabel.
EU CERC is co-funded by the European Union’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) with a total of €15 million and the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs with a national contribution of €2 million. The centre will operate through 2025-2029.
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