New Fund to Turn Circular Economy Ideas into Practical Projects
October 2, 2026
Ireland’s largest e-waste recycling scheme is committing €200,000 to help electrical and battery producers test and develop practical circular economy projects.
The WEEE Future Fund, financed by Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland, is designed to help turn circular economy policy and ambition into practical industry projects.
Launching today (2 October), the fund will support WEEE Ireland members to test and develop practical projects that keep electrical products, components and materials in use for longer.
Designed as a multi-year initiative, subject to approval, its first €200,000 round will provide awards of up to €50,000 for projects supporting greater repair, reuse, remanufacturing and recovery of products, components and materials.
Projects could include practical pathways to increase the repair and remanufacturing of large white goods, new retail take-back systems for small IT devices, or initiatives that prioritise reuse for growing-market technologies such as photovoltaic panels and battery storage systems.
The fund is open to WEEE Ireland members. Non-member retailers and other organisations may also participate in collaborative projects where a WEEE Ireland member leads the application.
WEEE Ireland represents over 2,000 producers, manufacturers, importers and distance sellers who place electrical and electronic equipment and batteries on the Irish market. Members span sectors such as household appliances, consumer electronics, IT equipment, lighting and batteries.
Elizabeth O’Reilly, Director of Environmental Compliance & Circular Economy at WEEE Ireland, said the launch marked a further evolution in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Ireland.
“For the past two decades, WEEE Ireland’s EPR system has helped build a very successful model for collecting and recycling electrical and battery waste in Ireland. But the circular economy asks us to go further,” Ms O’Reilly said.
“The challenge now is how we keep products, components and material resources in use for longer, and help producers move good ideas around repair, reuse, refurbishment and remanufacturing into something that can work in the marketplace.
“The new WEEE Future Fund is about reducing some of the risk involved in taking that first step. We want members to test circular economy ideas in practice in Ireland and establish whether successful approaches can ultimately be taken to scale.”
The fund is being developed through WEEE Ireland’s strategic partnership with Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and CIRCULÉIRE, Ireland’s national platform for circular manufacturing innovation.
WEEE Ireland is a founding member of CIRCULÉIRE and has previously worked with IMR and other partners on projects addressing practical barriers to repair, reuse and second-life applications.
These include the Circular Economy Skills Initiative (CESI), developed with FIT – Fastrack into Information Technology – and the White Goods Association in response to shortages of skilled consumer electronics and white-goods repair technicians.
The programme created a training pathway, helping to increase the number of technicians capable of repairing household appliances and consumer electronics and extending product lifetimes.
Martina Hennessy, Assistant Secretary, Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, said Ireland’s transition to a more circular economy would depend on translating policy objectives into practical changes across industry.
“Keeping products and materials in use for longer is central to building a more circular economy, but that transition also has to work in practice for businesses and consumers,” Ms Hennessy said.
“Initiatives like the WEEE Future Fund can help bridge the gap between policy ambition and delivery.”
“The gap between identifying a circular economy opportunity and proving that it can work technically and commercially can be significant,” said Dr. Geraldine Brennan, Director of Circular Economy Innovation at Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR).
“As designer and administrator of the WEEE Future Fund, IMR is working with WEEE Ireland through our Strategic Circularity Innovation Partnership to accelerate practical circular innovation across Ireland’s electrical, electronics, and battery ecosystem.
“We will support companies to explore circular design, product life extension, as-is reuse, remanufacturing and higher-value material recovery to drive the adoption of commercially oriented circular solutions at scale”.
Applications open Monday 5th October, and will remain open until 18 November 2026. An Application Clinic will also take place during October to support interested entrants.