Horizon Europe & Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking Projects

Much like foods are labelled for contents or growing procedures, or appliances are labelled for energy efficiency, sustainability certification schemes and business-to-business labels standardise what is sustainable and to what degree. Industry and governments are moving to implement this, and the EU is supporting standardisation of certification schemes for bio-based systems to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy. The EU-funded SUSTCERT4BIOBASED project will develop a monitoring system of bio-based products along the value chains and trades within the EU and globally. Covering four themes (environment, social, economic and governance), SUSTCERT4BIOBASED will support responsible production and consumption, and contribute to the establishment of a circular and sustainable bio-based industry.

The Bio-LUSH project extracts high-quality fibers from underexplored European plant resources such as forest residues, marine plants, and weeds. These fibers are used in sustainable bio-based products such as textiles, food packaging, and reinforced composites. The project revitalizes rural areas, promotes the European fibrous bio-economy, and contributes to decarbonization and reduced eutrophication.

LUCRA is a Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) funded initiative on a mission to revolutionise biobased chemicals. Ten industrial partners and renowned research centres from seven countries representing the whole value chain from feedstock to products have joined forces to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of transforming organic waste into bio-succinic acid on a pre-industrial scale. By combining cutting-edge thermal and enzymatic technologies, innovative fermentation and electrochemical processes, LUCRA, led by Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, Belgium will pave the way for a sustainable, resource-efficient, and circular bioeconomy.

The CUBIC project develops and demonstrates novel biobased materials, 100% recyclable by design, which will be manufactured as B2B intermediate semi-finished products. They can be used either individually or assembled in the final end-user product in order to replace current complex thermoplastic and thermoset structures. The overall objective of these new bioproducts is to provide an alternative biobased solution to the manufacturing industry by boosting green and digital trasformation.

BioReCer aims to ensure the environmental performance and traceability of the biological feedstock used by the bio-based industries, deploying guidelines to strengthen the current certification schemes. Within this approach, the added value, the use, as well as social acceptance of bioproducts will be increased. To fulfil this goal, BioReCer is structured in three main technological pillars: i) to develop a multidimensional assessment framework for the biological feedstocks and their associated supply chains; ii) to create a BioReCer Innovation Ecosystem Living-Lab with a multi-agent approach, testing the framework in four bio-based systems supply chain case studies; and iii) to use all this knowledge to complement current certification schemes including new criteria for certifying the sustainability, origin and traceability of biological resources, and ensuring applicability in the EU and globally. Furthermore, the project develops an ICT-Tool which will process and transfer information on the bio-based value chains to the BioReCer stakeholders platform (BRSP).

The 3-CO project aims to improve the sustainability performance and competitiveness of bio-based systems and will focus on consumer-oriented labelling options for sustainable industrial bio-based products. The supportive framework that will be developed in 3-CO includes actionable guidelines for label design for Label and Certification Schemes owners that reflect consumers' and other stakeholders' needs, digital solutions to support better-informed decision-making processes of consumers as well as policy recommendations on deploying social measures. This framework is going to enable and support consumers to make more sustainable/environmentally responsible purchasing choices.

The bioeconomy roll-out on a large scale needs the establishment of new models and interactions between the primary sector and other stakeholders toward co-participated bioindustries. In this sense, ROBOCOOP-EU proposes a breakthrough cultural change in the agrosector, by deploying effective regional and circular bio-based Business Models for the valorisation of waste streams from 3 agricultural sectors: grape, olive and stone fruit. This will expand real scenarios of commercial opportunities to diversify the economy of small and medium scale farmers and cooperatives, enabling a more versatile biorefinery with a portfolio of biobased products. This model will allow the integration of secondary streams in a holistic closed loop, thus improving the ecological footprint and revenues with social impact.

European regional authorities are key players in the bloc’s ambitious goal to achieve net-zero emissions. They will play an essential role in managing policies, initiatives and more within their borders to optimise and guarantee this transition. The EU-funded ROBIN project will assist in this difficult task by helping EU countries, regions and cities to set up governance models capable of accelerating their successful transition to a circular bioeconomy. A territorial approach, examining the social, economic, environmental and spatial characteristics of each region, will ensure more tailored and effective outcomes. To implement the approach, the five EU regions of ROBIN (in Ireland, Spain, Greece, Slovakia and Germany) will set up multi-actor regional stakeholder communities that will drive and sustain the transition.

Aiming at increasing farmers’ income and to be fully aligned with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) while addressing also Green Deal and Bioeconomy Strategy objectives, BRILIAN will support the adoption of sustainable cooperative business models in rural areas. These business models will enhance rural development, biodiversity preservation and climate-neutrality. For that, BRILIAN will implement a multi-actor approach for the validation of a group of Actions for the Bio Innovation (ABI) both at macro and micro level.

Supporting policymakers in the transition to bio-based systems

SUSTRACK is a three-year project aimed at supporting policymakers in their efforts to develop sustainable pathways to replace fossil and carbon-intensive systems with sustainable circular and bio-based systems (at the EU and regional scale), contributing to achieving the European Green Deal's objectives. This will be done by: identifying environmental, economic and social limits of a linear carbon-intensive and fossil-based economy; improving existing assessment methodologies; assessing the environmental, social and economic impacts of the EU's current linear fossil-based economy; comparing multiple transition scenarios focusing on the most carbon-intensive sectors; identifying priorities according to scenarios analysed in the project and develop guidelines and policy recommendations.

Amidst environmental, economic and political unrest, it can be difficult for policymakers to find solutions for ecosystem protection and preservation while maintaining other policies. The EU-funded BIOTRANSFORM project aims to reverse this trend by developing an assessment and policy development framework along with a database and support that will allow for a smoother transition from fossil-based solutions to circular bio-based systems. The project will test and improve its framework aiming to develop and introduce several circular bio-based systems in six European regions. The successful development of the project will allow for its implementation on a larger scale for combatting climate change.