Achieving sustainable manufacturing with an ambitious EU bioeconomy action plan
The bioeconomy encompasses the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources, residues, by-products and side streams into value added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products, services and bioenergy.
Strengthening Europe鈥檚 bioeconomy can significantly accelerate progress towards achieving key EU policy and environmental objectives, such as becoming climate neutral by 2050, transitioning to a circular economy, and strengthening the EU industrial base.
The bioeconomy鈥檚 role is expanding within Europe鈥檚 chemical industry (with the EU鈥檚 bio-based production having an estimated total Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.6% 1), supplying materials and products to reduce fossil feedstocks鈥� dependence and advancing sustainability goals.
1.EU Bioeconomy strategy progress report 鈥� JRC 鈥� 2022
Over the course of the next five years, the EU Commission and Parliament must develop strategies and policies to accelerate the bioeconomy to deliver the green transition:
- Significant amounts of sustainable bio feedstocks must be available and accessible at competitive conditions.
- Global investors need a climate of long-term confidence for financial commitments in the European bioeconomy
- Bio-based and bio-derived materials and products require kickstarting and incentive measures to get better access to markets and better recognition from customers and consumers.
- An industrial focus needs to be included in all new or updated policies, with the aim of scaling-up production thereby increasing the competitiveness of bio-based products on the market.
The aims to accelerate the deployment of a sustainable European bioeconomy.
Fair access to biomass for a circular economy
The bioeconomy depends on multiple sources of biomass that must be seen as complementary and fit-for-purpose.
From annual agricultural crops to bio-waste, all sustainably produced and harvested/collected feedstocks are indispensable to help Europe鈥檚 economy to switch as much as possible from a fossil-based, to a more circular and bio-based economy.
Fair access to biomass ensures that it can be effectively integrated into circular economy practices, reducing waste and improving resource efficiency. An example of this is the use of waste side streams from food production facilities as raw material to obtain added value products.
Aligning policies with the cascading use principle ensures biomass is used where it provides the most environmental, economic, and social benefits, with higher incentives for material uses over energy uses.
To secure fair access to bio-based feedstocks, removing trade barriers and bottlenecks, and facilitating a secure chain of supply with biomass producers is essential.
Implementing a single set of consistent sustainability criteria for all biomass, as outlined in the Renewable Energy Directive, will promote sustainable practices. Accelerating the implementation of EU waste management legislation, like the Landfilling and Waste Framework Directives, will enhance bio-waste availability.
Balancing policies to promote sustainable biomass production while protecting the environment is crucial for ensuring sustainable biomass harvesting and use.
Attracting investments to Europe
To bring investment to Europe, it is essential to recognise that the bioeconomy, unlike the established fossil- and mineral-based economies, is still in its developmental phase and requires massive investments to expand production capacities, whether through new installations or repurposing existing ones, and to refine industrial processes. Such investments demand substantial capital and long-term commitment.
This necessitates legal and regulatory certainty for companies to confidently build, refurbish, and operate biorefineries and industrial installations. Clear and supportive policies for key enabling technologies, such as industrial biotechnologies and the recognition of the downstream climate benefits of bio-based products, are crucial. Public investor commitment is needed to “de-risk” investments and attract private capital, alongside sufficient budget allocation to support research, technological development, and innovation, ensuring that knowledge and competence are developed and retained in Europe.
Creating a market for the Bioeconomy
Bio-based materials, chemicals and products are found in multiple established applications, such as healthcare, homecare, personal care and cosmetics, construction, textile, packaging, etc. already available in the market, or in novel applications in which fully new chemical routes are exploited to yield new products. Bio-based products can potentially improve existing favourable properties and/or enhance existing unfavourable characteristics (e.g. biodegradability, toxicity) leading to bio-based applications with improved performance compared to their fossil-based counterparts and can improve the product environmental profile thanks to the renewable character of the feedstocks used in their production.
To stimulate their market demand, it is crucial to highlight their performance and sustainable characteristics compared to fossil- and mineral-based alternatives.
Despite these benefits, market introduction and adoption are still hindered by a combination of factors like feedstock diversity and availability, technological readiness level, scale of production and ultimately price (market players may be reluctant to pay a premium), which often limits the use of biobased products to niche applications.
To address this, fair trading conditions on global markets for bio-based feedstocks and products must be ensured. Establishing incentives for placing bio-based products on the market, based on proper impact assessments, is essential. Learning from the US “” programme, Europe should evaluate the introduction of the preference for sustainable bio-based products in national public procurement policies.
Additionally, adapting the Product Environmental Footprint methodology to account for biogenic carbon uptake will allow for fair comparisons with non-renewable products.
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