This summer the Biocircularcities project is coming behind your screen with a series of three exclusive webinars.

Since 2021, three pilot territories have been working on unlocking the circular economy potential of unexploited bio-based waste streams (namely organic fraction of municipal solid waste in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, biowaste from the coffee chain in the metropolitan city of Naples, and residual biomass from forestry and related wood transformation activities in the province Pazardzhik). Thanks to the BBI-JU Biocircularcities project, they have developed new models to boost the circularity of these biowaste chains.

Do you want to know more about these new value chains? Are you eager to adopt the approach followed by the Biocircularcities pilots and spread a circular bioeconomy in your territory? The Biocircularcities Trilogy is for you! The Biocircularcities partners will tell you all about the project, its development, and findings in three webinars.

Time has come for the third and final episode.

Episode 3: The journey of the three pilot territories

The Biocircularcities project brought together three “pilot territories” aiming to improve a specific value-chain focusing on one key bioresidue. The Metropolitan Area of Barcelona in Spain has focused on incentivising quality and quantity of municipal bio-waste separately collected in its urban context, the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy has tackled the conversion of coffee silverskin from the agrifood industry into high-fibres content bread, and the Province of Pazardzhik in Bulgaria has targeted its forestry residues to collect them for energy or biochemicals production through lignocellulosic valorisation.

Join this third and final webinar of the Biocircularcities Trilogy to follow the journey of the three pilot territories towards these new value-chains and get a taste of the experience they gained during the project. You will hear about a variety of topics, such as how local stakeholders were involved in the process, and how the scientific work of Biocircularcities partners supported the local discussions.

Next 23 June 2023 join the workshop “Marine-friendly biopolymers: characteristics and challenges”, organized by Glaukos project and Bio-Plastics Europe, in collaboration with the European Bioplastics Research Network and the European Bioeconomy Network.

The workshop will take place from 9.00 to 12.00 CEST, online.

Agenda available here.
Register here.

What are the characteristics that marine-friendly biopolymers should have to become a potential solution to prevent and eliminate pollution in the oceans and waters, responding to EU Mission Ocean’s objectives?

In the last years, the EC is funding several projects and initiatives to investigate under which conditions bio-based and biodegradable plastics can contribute to reduce pollution in our ecosystems. Nevertheless, the timescale for biodegradation of unintentional released bioplastics is not short enough in marine environment and doesn’t sufficiently respond to market needs (performance, durability, etc.). In parallel, additional challenges should be considered (e.g. risk assessment, sustainability of bio-based feedstock, programmed biodegradation, standardisation in different environments, ecotoxicity, environmental persistence, entanglement and ghost fishing).

In the search for solutions to these challenges, during this workshop, researchers and stakeholders will be involved in a round table to discuss what are the characteristics and challenges that should be addressed for the definition of marine-friendly biopolymers.

The open discussion will be moderated by Glaukos and Bio-Plastics Europe experts and will be structured along the following topics:

• Definition of marine friendly biopolymers
• Programmed biodegradation
• Ecotoxicity and overall risk assessment
• Standardisation and labelling of marine-friendly biopolymers
• EU projects recommendations for future policies on marine-friendly biopolymers

The European project AllThings.BioPRO. is proud to present the release of its serious game and label app. The game is available in English, German, Dutch and Italian.

The mission of the ‘serious game’ is to save the Earth by turning our lifestyle from fossil-based to bio-based. “The term ‘serious game‘ might sound as if there is no fun in it, but ‘serious’ refers more to the topics covered, and means that they are worth discovering,” says project coordinator, Valerie Sartorius. Called “Mission BioHero”, and available online for both Android’s and iOs users, the game owes its name to the challenge that we are invited to take up. “We play the role of a kind of an alien coming to destroy our planet, but then it changes its mind and decides that it’s worth being a hero and helping humanity rescue it,” explains Sartorius.

Mission BioHero is structured into eight ‘missions’, related to topics such as bio-based packaging, greenwashing, or products’ end-of-life. “We are challenged to answer quizzes and accomplish real tasks in our everyday life, like going to our wardrobe and scanning the labels of our clothes, to check out what they are made of, and if they are bio-based,” explains Sartorius. And since it is so easy to get confused, the project also launched a smartphone application called “Label Bio-Hero”, on PlayStores and  AppStores. “It is first of all meant to help people understand which labels to trust and what they stand for. It basically helps the user find their way in their vast universe, to spot which products are really biodegradable and bio-based,” Sartorius says.

More information

Read the full article here

Any questions? Send an email to Valerie Sartorius, v.sartorius@fnr.de

24 May 2023 | 14:00-15:30 | Online

Registration

Project Development Assistance (PDA) projects build the technical, economic and legal expertise needed for project development, leading to the launch of concrete investments. At the EU level such projects have been used extensively in the field of energy (efficiency). But (how) can the approach be transferred to Circular Economy projects?

HOOP is a pioneering Horizon 2020 project that is providing PDA to eight Lighthouse Cities and Regions across Europe. The project aims to unlock significant investments in state-of-the-art biowaste and wastewater valorisation technologies.

Now, two-and-a-half years into the project, partners will share their methodologies, experiences, encountered barriers and learnings with other EU projects, technology providers, consultancies and all interested stakeholders in a dedicated webinar.

The GO-GRASS project, funded under the Horizon 2020 programme, is organising a Green Week partner event entitled “Fostering grassland opportunities, circular business models and skills for resilient rural communities”.

This public event will take place on Thursday 8 June, from 14:00 to 16:00 (CET), online on Zoom.

At the occasion of the EU Green Week 2023, which focuses on 2023 on the topics of skills for sustainable, resilient and socially fair communities, this EU Green Week partner event aims to discuss new circular business models and skills for resilient rural communities, including specific best practices such as green biorefineries and relevant funding instruments.

The event will enrich the GO-GRASS policy recommendations presented in the draft White Paper for grassland opportunities.It is a chance to exchange on policy gaps at EU level, while identifying bottlenecks and solutions to support the circular bioeconomy in rural areas and upskill farmers and rural advisors. The webinar agenda will be available soon.

REGISTER HERE