Europe needs more bio-based products to ensure future generations inherit a sustainable society, but the success of such products can only be built on trust. The EU-funded STAR-ProBio project are conscious of the challenges ahead. They built a new framework to help create better labels, standards and certifications that will allow for that trust to be built, ultimately benefiting all EU citizens.

There is no alternative. If the world has to become anything else than a gigantic dustbin, it will have to transition to bio-based products. This means phasing out fossil-based products in favour of plant and waste-derived materials, building biorefineries using renewable resources to replace their polluting counterparts, and transitioning to an economy focused on circularity.

The number of challenges ahead would make anyone’s head spin, but projects like the EU-funded STAR-ProBio project have been tackling them head-on. “Our project focused on sustainability assessment schemes (labels, standards and certifications) as well as uncertainties related to market uptake,” says Piergiuseppe Morone, professor of Economic Policy at the University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza and coordinator of the project.

For the former, the project team identified a set of environmental, social and economic indicators covering land use change and transition from linear to circular production models. For the latter, they investigated drivers that could push both consumers and producers to warmly welcome bio-based products, including those aspects specifically related to sustainability schemes. As Morone explains: “We conducted a three-round survey with a large panel of consumers and professionals. It helped us find out how they think and how this thinking influences buying decisions. Additionally, we conducted an experiment involving 360 consumers in a branch of a multinational company selling furniture, furnishings and household articles in Italy.”

A pathway to consumer acceptance

The results of this experiment are quite enlightening. They show the existence of a ‘green premium’ – that is, increased consumer willingness to pay for bio-based over conventional products – as well as a ‘certified green premium’, which means they’re willing to pay even more for certified bio-based products than they do for non-certified ones. “The experiment also shows that demand for conventional products – for instance hand soap, food bags or coloured pens – is generally more elastic than demand for bio-based and certified bio-based products. This means that the introduction of an instrument mix combining an eco-label based on a certification of sustainability, a tax on conventional products and a subsidy on certified sustainable goods may support the market uptake of certified sustainable bio-based goods,” Morone notes.

STAR-ProBio’s findings were continuously submitted for evaluation by the likes of policymakers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), value chain actors and consumer associations as the project moved further in its work. This work took place over 3 years and resulted in the SAT-ProBio framework – a blueprint of sustainability certification schemes for bio-based products. As Morone explains: “The framework includes two key tools. The Sustainability Certification Tool (SCT) describes the SAT-ProBio methodology and its underpinnings so that the framework can be integrated into the current certification landscape. Meanwhile, the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) guides companies in assessing specific bio-based products. By using it, they can identify areas of improvement related to 33 aspects of sustainability, based on 48 different indicators.”

The project ended in April 2020, but work has continued ever since to accelerate the creation of standards for bio-based products. The consortium’s last contribution is a process of pre-standardisation built around the IAT in December 2020 in collaboration with the Italian National Standards Body. This process is expected to be finalised and published by the end of 2021.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/projects/success-stories/all/better-standards-and-certifications-more-successful-bio-based-products?fbclid=IwAR0UrYth7l-yJoLI0ti5W9EUu5xYta5kT1d9heaHTDbq_U0AZa-KvloUFCA

The World BioEconomy Forum launches world’s first news app for the global circular bioeconomy 

22 June 2021 – The World BioEconomy Forum has launched the world’s first breaking news app for global stakeholders operating in the circular bioeconomy.  The app, which is available for both Android and IOS devices, will alert users to the very latest breaking news and developments taking place in the rapidly growing sector.

The circular bioeconomy is increasingly being seen as pivotal concept for the mitigation of climate change, as well as a way to conserve the planet’s vital raw materials. The concept encourages the use of products and services that utilize renewable resources as their base for production and operation, as well as encouraging recycling and reuse wherever possible.

“We are really excited about our new app,” says Jukka Kantola, Founder of the World BioEconomy Forum. “It will allow us to further develop our platform for information sharing in the circular bioeconomy sector. Already our events – including regular Roundtables, our annual Forum, monthly newsletters and bulletins – are proving very popular with stakeholders operating in the circular bioeconomy sector. The breaking news app adds a further dimension to the important information we are sharing and providing.”

The app will cover all the latest news emerging from the global circular bioeconomy, and importantly will fit into the World BioEconomy Forum’s four thematic pillars of; People, Planet, Policies; Global Leaders and the Financial World; Bioproducts Around Us and Looking to the Future.

The app is available for download from the Apple App Store for IOS and for android devices by searching for World BioEconomy News. Companies, entities and individuals operating in the circular bioeconomy can send their latest news for publishing to news@wcbef.com

The launch of the app comes hot on the heels of another World BioEconomy Forum launch just last week of World Bioproduct Day, a campaign to enhance and increase awareness of the importance of the use bio-based products for the protection of the planet.

The next World BioEconomy Forum will be held in partnership with the state of Pará, and major bioeconomy associations in Brazil, ABAG and Ibá.  The Forum 2021 will be held in the recently developed and renovated riverside venue Estação das Docas in Belém. The city has been recognized as a Creative City of Gastronomy by Unesco.

More information:  Jukka Kantola

info@wcbef.com

+358 40 552 88

In the frame of the 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration (EMCEI-2021), the EU funded project FASTER is organising a special session dedicated to the study of living labs as a tool to promote open innovation in Tunisia.

REGISTER HERE

Practical information

When: Friday 11 June 2021, 09:00-13.00 (UTC+1)

Language: English

Organiser: FASTER Project (grant agreement no 810812)

Description

The session will provide an overview of the activities promoted by the FASTER Project Living Lab which focuses on knowledge transfer on adaptation to climate change strategies between researchers in the field of water, soil and forest management, and practitioners engaged in the Farm Advisory System of Tunisia.

The event will also engage several high-level experts and stakeholders working in the fields and on Living Labs in an open debate that will allow exploring the barriers and opportunities ahead for promoting open innovation in Tunisia and to also identify ways to promote adaptation in water, soil, and forestry in the Tunisian context.

Afterwards, the authors of selected papers about Climate change adaptation in water, soil, and forestry in Tunisia will present their work.

MPowerBIO launches new programme for bio-based SMEs & scale-ups

MPowerBIO Business Support Programme will gather high-potential start-ups/ SMEs and scale-ups from bio-based industries, providing them with experienced start-up coaches, investors, industry experts and an entrepreneurial environment.

A six-week immersive online training delivered by MPowerBIO in-house growth experts will provide SMEs and scale-ups with tailor-made sessions covering various topics such as reporting and exit strategies, market validation, financial planning, IPR protection, matching company growth and EU funding opportunities, creating and delivering a compelling investor pitch deck, and many more.

The best part about the programme is that it is completely free and offers direct access to investors at regional and final events.

Interested? Visit mpowerbio.eu and apply now!

The BIOVOICES final event will be held online, via WebEx, on the 22nd of April from 10:00 to 13:00 (CEST)