“This is an opportunity for Lithuanian industrial enterprises to assess their environmental impact, find ways to reduce it, and bring more sustainable products to the market, while gaining a competitive advantage. The measure will allow businesses to implement and certify environmental management systems, conduct technological audits, and carry out eco-design and labelling,” says Iveta Paludnevičiūtė, Chancellor of the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation.
“By taking advantage of this funding measure and carrying out eco-design of products, enterprises can reduce the environmental impact of their products throughout their entire life cycle, from replacing or eliminating raw materials containing harmful substances to designing more sustainable and recyclable product packaging,” comments Diana Martinavičė, Head of the Business Promotion Division of the Innovation Agency.
The call can be used to finance the implementation of an environmental management system. This is an internationally recognised system of environmental practices that aims to ensure the smooth functioning of business processes by introducing EU standards, and identifying and solving environmental problems. This call also provides funding for a technological audit of production, which describes the production process from the choice of raw materials to the placement of the final product on the market and identifies the main environmental problems and opportunities for cleaner production.
“Audits and cleaner production assessments have the benefit of revealing opportunities and methods to address environmental concerns of enterprises, while increasing production efficiency, optimising processes and ensuring the rational use of resources,” adds Ms Martinavičė.
The call also provides funding for eco-labelling, which is the certification of products that are less harmful to the environment and human health than other products in the same product group. It is important that the eco-labelling of products or services is Type I in accordance with the requirements of the standard. Eligible applicants for the “EcoInnovation” measure are micro, small and medium-sized (SMEs) industrial enterprises operating in Central and Western Lithuania for at least 1 year, with the annual revenue from their own production accounting for at least 51 per cent of their total sales and reaching at least EUR 50 000 in the last financial year preceding the submission of their application.
The maximum amount of funding available for a project is EUR 80 000 and the minimum is EUR 15 000. This measure can finance up to 50 per cent of the project costs. Up to EUR 1 million of EU investment has been allocated for project activities in total.
“The amount and nature of funding depends on the activities planned by the enterprise submitting the project implementation plan. The maximum funding up to EUR 33 000 is available for eco-labelling and certification activities, up to EUR 15 000 for eco-design activities, up to EUR 12 000 for technological audits of production and up to EUR 5 000 for those wishing to implement environmental management systems in their companies,” says Ms Martinavičė.
Once funded, applicants will have to start implementing the project activities within 3 months and complete them within 24 months from the date of signature of the contract.
The applications can be submitted to the Innovation Agency by 12 October 2023.
The call and its terms are described in detail on the European Union Investment website, and the experts of the Innovation Agency are ready to advise on all aspects of the call.
To strengthen the Lithuanian economy, the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation will launch calls totalling almost EUR 1 billion by the end of 2023, of which EUR 165.2 million has been earmarked for the industrial transition towards a climate-neutral economy.
