FAQs
Circularity is essential for the sustainable transition of the EU economy because it promotes efficient use of resources, minimises waste, and reduces the environmental impact of production and consumption. By adopting a circular economy model, materials and products are reused, repaired, and recycled, keeping them in the economy for as long as possible. This reduces the demand for virgin resources, lowers carbon emissions and supports the EU’s goals for climate neutrality and sustainability. Circularity also encourages innovation, creates green jobs, and enhances economic resilience by reducing dependency on finite resources and external markets.
- Certification is part of testing and inspection of a product and its value-chain, and the provision of written assurance (a certificate) by an independent body. This certificate confirms that the product in question and its value-chain meets specific requirements. These certificates are publicly available, and in many cases, certifiers award product labels that consumers can use as a guide for purchasing choices.
- In case of bio-based products, certification is challenging. This is because existing Labels and Certification Schemes (LCS) mostly use indicators and criteria that have been developed for traditional feedstocks (e.g. wood) and their applications. Also, in comparison to conventional fossil feedstock, value chains of biological resources are often longer due to numerous intermediate processing steps. Consequently, more effort is required to monitor the entire supply chain and obtain transparency.
- BioReCer will complement current certification schemes including new criteria for certifying the sustainability, origin and traceability of biological resources derived from waste, and ensuring applicability in the EU and globally.
Certification and life-cycle assessment (LCA) are crucial for promoting the adoption of bio-based products by ensuring transparency, credibility, and sustainability throughout their production and use. Certification verifies that bio-based products meet established environmental and performance standards, while LCA provides a comprehensive evaluation of their environmental impact from raw material extraction to disposal. Together, they help industries and consumers make informed choices, reducing the risk of greenwashing by providing verifiable proof of sustainability claims, thus fostering trust in bio-based products and encouraging responsible consumption.
The European Commission (EC) makes a clear distinction between waste and by-products:
Waste is defined as any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard, whereas a by-product is defined as a production residue that is not a waste.
The EC has established a three-part test to determine if a material is a by-product:
1) Further use of the material must be certain.
2) The material can be used directly without any further processing.
3) The material is produced as an integral part of a production process.
Residues are materials that are not deliberately created in a production process. They can be classified as either waste or by-products, depending on their characteristics and intended use.
These terms are often used interchangeably in waste management contexts. However, there is no clear definition. In general they can be characterised in the following way:
- Biological waste: Waste derived from living organisms.
- Organic waste: Waste composed of organic matter (remains of dead plants and animals, faeces).
- Biogenic waste: Any waste of biological origin.
Sustainability indicators are measurable metrics used to assess and track the environmental, social and economic impacts of a product, process or system. They help evaluate the sustainability performance of an activity by focusing on key areas like resource use, greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, energy efficiency and social equity. These indicators provide a clear way to monitor progress toward sustainability goals and guide decision-making to ensure long-term environmental health, economic viability and social well-being.
Glossary
Bio-based, according to the official European standard, means “derived from biomass”. The term bio-based is mainly used to describe products whose carbon atoms originate from biogenic instead of fossil sources. These products can be made entirely or partially from biomass such as plants, trees, marine organisms or animals and can be subject to physical, chemical or biological processes. Plants rich in starch and cellulose such as sugar beet and cane, corn or wood, but also oilseeds, provide the raw material for ‘bio-based’ products in the chemical industry. In BioReCer, the considered and valorised feedstock for bio-based products is biogenic waste and residues from agriculture, fishery, forestry and municipality (OFMSW).
All members of the whole value-chain of a bio-based product.
BBPs are products that are wholly or partly derived from biomass instead of fossil feedstock. These products can be intermediates, materials, semi-finished or final products (e.g. cosmetics, pharma/neutraceuticals, chemicals/ bioplastics, food and beverage, bio-composites, fertilisers, medical products).
Biomass describes biogenic matter that is available on a renewable basis, including agricultural crops and trees, wood and wood wastes and residues, plants (including aquatic plants), microorganisms, fungi, grasses, residues, fibres, animal wastes, organic municipal wastes and other waste materials. Biomass encompasses any biogenic material to be used as raw material. The biomass assessed in BioReCer comes from agriculture, fishery, forestry and municipalities.
“The bioeconomy […] encompasses the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value-added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy.” (EC 2012, Communication on Innovating a Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe).
The bioeconomy is the production and conversion of biomass as a raw material or sustainable use of biotechnology for the production of a range of food, health, fibre and industrial products and as energy carrier.
- The Biomass Utilisation Factor (BUF) is a new metric combining cascading use and production efficiency into one indicator to investigate the circularity of materials for the circular bioeconomy. Cascading use captures the repeated use of the original biomass, either for the same or a different purpose. Production efficiency looks at how much of the biomass input is actually transformed into useful products or materials.
- The BUF can serve not only as an indicator for the circular economy principle of keeping materials in use, but also act as an efficient tool for stakeholders and policy makers to identify options that maximise biomass utilisation and keep materials in use for a longer time. In light of recent political developments in Europe, the BUF can serve as a tool that provides additional insights for achieving sustainable carbon cycles or help to respect the cascading principle of biomass utilisation.
Secondary product derived from a production process, manufacturing process or chemical reaction; it is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product is defined as a production residue that is not a waste.
A circular economy is an economic model that aims to eliminate waste and maximise resource efficiency by keeping materials and products in use for as long as possible. The European Union has introduced legislation and strategies to transition towards a circular economy. In essence, the circular economy represents a fundamental shift in how we produce, consume and manage resources, aiming to create a more sustainable and resilient economic system.
Indicators for tracking circular economy performance, e.g. environmental, social, economic, regulatory, demographic indicators. BioReCer develops specific methods to evaluate identified circularity criteria, following the ISO 59020 standard. This task will result in a set of circularity indicators for the biological resources flow to bio-based industries that need to be included in certification schemes, promoting indicators aligned with the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
Any of two or more products coming from the same unit process or product system.
Sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour in companies’ operations and across their global value chain. The EU-Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (Directive 2024/1760) will ensure that companies in scope identify and address adverse human rights and environmental impacts of their actions inside and outside Europe for a just transition towards a sustainable economy.
Defossilisation involves the replacement of fossil carbon (carbon found below the ground) derived from coal, oil and natural gas with renewable carbon sources. This shift is crucial for achieving net-zero emissions in the chemicals and materials industry, given that the majority of chemicals and materials are primarily composed of carbon that is embedded in their molecular structure. Defossilisation, representing the transition from fossil to renewable carbon within the chemicals and materials sector, and parallels the decarbonisation achieved through renewable energy sources.
A feedstock is the unprocessed raw material of a manufacturing process. In general, any natural material can be viewed as a feedstock. These include minerals or materials from vegetation or water, including crops, wood, algae and organic matter, but also fossil resources like petroleum, coal and natural gas. Therefore, the term “feedstock” is often used as a synonym for raw material.
Waste derived from food or foodstuff. The European Commission (EC No. 178/2002) defines food as “any
substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans. ‘Food’ includes drink, chewing gum and any substance, including water, intentionally incorporated into the food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment.”
ICT = Information and Communication Technology. An ICT-Tool both processes and passes on information and can simultaneously be used for communication (e.g. the users of the BioReCer ICT Tool (BIT) can exchange information and data). The tool is based on machine-learning/artificial intelligence, i.e. the tool processes and simultaneously learns from the provided data.
Quantitative, qualitative or binary variable that can be measured or described for the evaluation of a defined aspect (in agreement with the definition of EN 16751:2016).
Labels are marks or symbols on products that indicate adherence to certain standards, often related to environmental, social or quality criteria. They can be used in both B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) contexts, providing information relevant to the intended audience.
Label and certification schemes are structured frameworks that communicate product quality and compliance with specific standards to both businesses and consumers. They inform on the quality, safety and environmental impact of products. Certification schemes involve third-party verification that a product or service meets defined standards. This process typically includes audits and assessments to ensure compliance. Label and certification schemes play crucial roles at both B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) levels by promoting transparency, ensuring compliance with standards and building consumer trust.
Life Cycle Assessment is defined as a systematic analysis of environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its entire life cycle. For this analysis, the material and energy inputs and outputs along all steps of the life cycle (this includes raw material extraction, production, distribution, use and disposal at end-of-life) are collected and then assessed in terms of potential environmental impacts of a product system. LCA is accepted as one of the main methods to identify environmental impacts and is standardised on the widely accepted standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.
Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste
See “Feedstock”.
As according to the European Commission, residues are materials that are not deliberately created in a production process. They can be classified as either waste or by-products, depending on their characteristics and intended use.
Recycled material substances that meet end-of-waste criteria as defined in the European Directive 2008/98/EC on waste.
A standard is a technical specification adopted by a recognised standardisation body for repeated or continuous application with which compliance in non-compulsory.
According to the Brundtland Report, sustainable development is based on three fundamental pillars: social, economic and environmental.
Tracking and traceability. T&T refer to the ability to monitor the movement and origin of products through each stage of the supply chain, ensuring transparency, safety, and accountability.
Products that have gone through the complete production process and are ready for sale to customers.
The progression of activities that are performed by different members of the (bio-based) industry from production and processing of the feedstock (biomass) until the delivery of a final (bio-based) product with all intermediate steps.
Volatile fatty-acid (VFA) “are among the essential chemical building blocks used extensively from food and pharmaceutical industries all the way to plastic production and wastewater treatment.” “VFAs can be produced synthetically from petrochemical derivatives and also through biological routes, for example, anaerobic digestion of organic mixed waste” (Agnihotri et al. 2022).
Any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard.