Circular economy strategy enters delivery phase as EU contract launches
A major support project will help turn Ukraine's circular economy strategy into laws, market tools and public engagement, echoing wider European ESG reforms.
A major support project will help turn Ukraine's circular economy strategy into laws, market tools and public engagement, echoing wider European ESG reforms.
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A new European Commission project will help turn Ukraine's draft circular economy strategy and action plan into practical measures. The contract, published on 21st January 2026, is designed to support Ukraine's Ministry for Economy, Environment and Agriculture in aligning legislation, steering markets, raising awareness and testing innovative approaches around resource use.
The circular economy strategy support project is being tendered by the European Commission’s Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood service. Its stated aim is to assist in implementing measures of Ukraine’s draft Circular Economy Strategy and Action Plan, signalling a move from high-level policy drafting towards execution.
By focusing explicitly on implementation, the notice underlines that Ukraine’s circular economy ambitions now need to be translated into regulations, incentives and programmes that can be applied by public bodies and businesses. The draft nature of the strategy and action plan suggests that the work will run alongside the finalisation of these documents, creating feedback between policy design and practical constraints.
The involvement of the Ministry for Economy, Environment and Agriculture is notable. Circular economy policies cut across industrial development, environmental protection and land use. Housing these portfolios within one ministry, and tying them into this support project, points to an effort to avoid siloed reforms and to embed circular principles in economic decision-making as well as environmental management.
In practice, the project is framed around four key focus areas: legislative harmonisation, market-based solutions, awareness raising and innovative approaches. Together, these show an intention to work on the rules of the game, the incentives that shape behaviour, the understanding of stakeholders and the testing of new models.
The notice identifies four main strands for the future contractor’s work:
Legislative harmonisation is likely to be a core task. Circular economy measures can touch on waste, product standards, public procurement, agriculture and industrial policy. The reference to harmonisation suggests an effort to align different pieces of national legislation that affect how resources are used and reused. For a country working closely with European institutions, this can also involve ensuring that domestic rules are compatible with commitments made to international partners.
Market-based solutions point to an agenda that goes beyond command-and-control regulation. The notice’s language indicates interest in tools that harness prices, investment and commercial models to drive circular practices. This mirrors other public-sector initiatives. In August 2025, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development launched the Circular Economy Support for Entrepreneurs to develop educational content helping businesses in Eastern Poland adopt circular practices, recognising that company-level decisions respond to both market signals and regulatory frameworks.
Awareness raising is another explicit pillar. The Ukrainian project echoes a wave of education-focused contracts across Europe. In July 2025, Parzęczew Municipality in Poland tendered the Education on Circular Economy project to run workshops and outreach on circular economy and waste management for local residents. In January 2026, the association Stowarzyszenie Białostockiego Obszaru Funkcjonalnego went further upstream with its Vocational Training Services, training students in skills relevant to the circular economy and so‑called Economy 4.0. Ukraine’s focus on awareness raises similar questions about how citizens, businesses and officials will be engaged and what messages will be prioritised.
Innovative approaches complete the picture. The wording indicates that the Commission and Ukrainian authorities are looking for more than incremental adjustments. Across Europe, innovation around circularity is being encouraged through specialised centres and experimental procurements. In January 2026, the city of Madrid sought a manager for its Innovation Center in Circular Economy, intended as a hub for new business models. In October 2025, the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture Secretariat launched a pre‑commercial procurement for R&D Services for Circular Economy in the Baltic Sea region, testing digital platforms and event infrastructure. The Ukrainian project sits in this same family of efforts to find fresh ways of using resources more efficiently.
The contract notice reflects a broader shift in European and neighbouring countries’ procurement towards circular economy and sustainability expertise. Public bodies at every level – from municipalities to ministries – are commissioning advisory, technical and management services to reshape how resources are managed.
In January 2026, Menter Môn Cyf in Wales advertised Circular Economy Project Support for Anglesey and Gwynedd. That contract also centres on technical support, community engagement and sustainable business practices – a regional counterpart to the national-level work now being planned in Ukraine.
At city scale, the Ville de Rouen set out in December 2025 to buy Consulting Services for Climate and Economy, combining advice on climate, air and energy with support for circular economy labelling. This kind of integrated brief shows how circularity is being tied directly to climate and air‑quality goals.
National ministries are also reshaping funding programmes. In October 2025, Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment issued a call for a project sponsor for its Digital Applications for Resource Efficiency programme, intended to enhance resource efficiency and promote circular practices in companies and municipal institutions through to the end of 2029. The long horizon suggests that governments are treating circular economy measures as structural, not one‑off projects.
Beyond Europe, in November 2025 the German development agency GIZ launched a contract for Capacity Building for Circular Economy in Caribbean nations. That project brings advisory services, stakeholder collaboration and national roadmaps together, explicitly linking circular approaches with climate sensitivity and gender equality. The Ukrainian strategy support work now being tendered shares this capacity‑building character, even if its geographic focus and institutional partners differ.
There are also efforts to create dedicated circular economy hubs. In October 2025, Umweltbundesamt GmbH advertised a project to establish Circular Economy Hubs in Armenia and Moldova, with potential for an additional hub in Ukraine. Taken together with the new circular economy strategy support project, this hints at a growing ecosystem of institutions and expertise around circularity in Eastern Partnership countries.
Knowledge coordination at European level is evolving as well. In November 2025, the Commission’s research directorate sought continued operation of the Circular Cities Initiative Support office, which helps manage and expand the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative. Ukraine’s planned work on circular economy legislation and markets will sit alongside this network of cities and regions exchanging practical experience.
The Ukrainian circular economy strategy support contract forms part of a broader pattern of reform‑oriented projects linked to economic modernisation and closer European integration. In August 2025, the European Commission launched EU Support for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine, providing technical assistance for comprehensive public administration reform in the context of the EU accession process. In October 2025, the European Investment Bank announced the Ukraine Infrastructure Project Facility, a technical assistance facility to prepare priority public infrastructure across sectors such as energy, transport, municipal services and digital connectivity, with an explicit aim to support economic recovery.
Other donors are paying close attention to delivery and learning. In September 2025, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs tendered for a MEAL Consultant for Ukraine Programme, to strengthen monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning for the Ukraine Transition Programme. That focus on evidence and risk management is likely to shape expectations for new projects such as the circular economy strategy support, even where it is not spelled out in the notice itself.
Across Europe, environmental, social and governance themes are increasingly embedded in public contracts. In August 2025, the Bratislava‑based company OLO a.s. sought ESG Strategy Consulting Services to create tailored ESG strategies and sustainability reports for municipal companies, including documentation and software solutions. In October 2025, the regional agency in Castilla y León tendered Consulting for SME Sustainability Plans, covering diagnosis, action planning, training and advisory support for small and medium‑sized enterprises.
Municipal projects reinforce the same trend. The municipality of Ruse in Bulgaria is procuring Consulting Services for Ruse Municipality to supervise sustainable energy refurbishments of residential buildings, while Dimitrovgrad municipality is buying Consulting Services for a Composting Project. In Greece, the regional waste management body for Sterea Ellada has launched Support Services for Waste Management, covering operations, planning and administration. These contracts all require blends of technical, legal, financial and stakeholder‑engagement skills – the same mix that the Ukrainian circular economy strategy is likely to demand as it moves into implementation.
Meanwhile, the Commission continues to back market‑oriented reforms in other sectors. In November 2025 it signalled new EU Assistance for Uzbekistan Agri-Food, aimed at supporting the government there in its transition to a market-based economy by enhancing policy frameworks and institutional capacities in the agri‑food sector. The Ukrainian circular economy project fits this pattern of using technical assistance to link sectoral strategies with concrete regulatory and institutional change.
The circular economy strategy support contract for Ukraine will be worth following as it moves from notice to award and then into delivery. Observers will be looking at how the draft strategy and action plan are translated into legislative packages, market instruments and pilot initiatives, and how the Ministry for Economy, Environment and Agriculture coordinates across its economic and environmental roles.
Interaction with other initiatives will also matter. Proposals for circular economy hubs, infrastructure preparation facilities and public administration reform support all point towards a crowded field of reforms and investments. The way this new project threads circular economy considerations through that wider agenda – and the way it draws on emerging European experience in cities, regions and partner countries – will shape both Ukraine’s transition and the growing market for sustainability and ESG advisory services in the public sector.
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