CALIMERO
CALIMERO: Industry Case Studies Analysis to Improve Environmental Performance and Sustainability of Bio-based Industrial Procedures
CALIMERO is a project funded by the European Union, whose goal is to improve current Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) methodologies of certain sectors from bio-based industries to identify and tackle most relevant sources of pollution. Current methods lack of some important factors which will be taken into account in order to have a broader picture of bio-based industries’ sustainability performance. Improving current methodologies, then, is key towards finding greener and more sustainable solutions.
The presence of bio-based industries from the construction, woodworking, textile, pulp & paper and biochemicals sectors in the consortium provides a valuable perspective of the industries’ needs towards sustainability. With them committed to this frame, it is possible to reduce environmental impacts by identifying the main sources of pollutants and analysing potential feasible solutions, considering additionally economic and social dimensions.
CALIMERO has been funded by the European Research Executive Agency the Horizon Europe programme with the Grant Agreement nr 101060546. The consortium is composed by 12 partners from 7 countries and will last for 36 months, until June 2025.
BeonNAT
BeonNat: Innovative Value Chains from Tree & Shrub Species grown in marginal Lands as a Source of Biomass for Bio-based Industries
BeonNAT is a project that aims to develop innovative products from underutilised plant biomass as feedstock for the bio-based industry. The fed biomass will be derived from shrubs, trees and other woody species. The scope of the project ranges from the cultivation and harvesting of selected species, to the extraction and purification of oils and vegetable extracts, paper manufacturing, biochar and active carbon production, among others.
BeonNAT will estimate the basic aspects of the value chain, selecting the most adequate species for different EU countries. It proposes a concept that includes mixed cultivation of selected species using the coppice management systems. BeonNAT will produce eight bioproducts whose tests and related biorefinery processes will be performed in different countries. The project will also estimate the production’s economic, social and environmental impacts.
This project has been funded by the Bio-based Joint Undertaking (BBI-JU, now known as CBE-JU) and the Bio-based industries consortium (BIC) under the Horizon 2020 programme with the Grant Agreement nr 887917. The consortium is composed by 16 partners from 7 countries and will last for 60 months, until June 2025.
SUSTRACK
The transition from linear fossil-based systems to circular and bio-based systems represents an opportunity and a suitable pathway for achieving several SDGs. Indeed, circular bio-based systems depict a great opportunity to reconcile sustainable long-term growth with environmental protection through the prudent use of renewable resources for industrial purposes. This needed transition is a complex process, which does not simply require innovative technologies from the supply-side, but also societal transformations based on a multi-actor process. The circular bioeconomy meta-sector may be a good candidate to put forward a new economic model, which requires transformative policies, purposeful innovation, access to finance, risk-taking capacity as well as new and sustainable business models and markets. However, a critical assessment of the environmental, social and economic impacts of the current linear fossil-based
economy, as well as of the improvement potential associated with circular bio-based systems, is needed to underpin the identification of policy priorities. Bearing this in mind, 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.
3-CO
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 BBPs.
The supportive framework that will be developed in 3-CO includes actionable guidelines for label design for LCS 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.
SUSTCERT4BIOBASED
SUSTCERT4BIOBASED is a 3-year EU – funded project that aims to assess and promote the adoption of sustainability certification schemes and labels for industrial biobased systems to support tracing the sustainability of the products along the EU and international value chains and trades.
Star4bbs
STAR4BBS: Sustainability Transition Assessment Rules for Bio-Based Systems. The overall aim of STAR4BBS is to maximize the potential of Sustainability Certification Schemes (SCS) and labels to support a successful transition to a sustainable bio-based economy. STAR4BBS will develop indicators and a new monitoring system for assessing the effectiveness and robustness of existing international and EU SCS, B2B labels, and related traceability systems applicable to biological feedstock and bio-based materials and products. The project started with gaining a precise picture of existing sustainability certification schemes and labels and gathering specific global trade data and information on volumes of biological feedstock and bio-based materials and products. STAR4BBS will develop and disseminate findings and recommendations to promote the adoption of effective and robust SCSs and labels by different categories of stakeholders. The consortium is composed of 11 institutions, with experts from different fields, from across Europe with expertise in areas such as bioeconomy, sustainable production, social and environmental sustainability, and certification and labeling schemes.
hoop
The HOOP project supports 8 lighthouse cities and regions in developing large-scale urban circular bioeconomy initiatives that will focus on making bio-based products from urban biowaste and wastewater.
WaysTUP!
WaysTUP! aims to demonstrate the establishment of new value chains for urban biowaste utilisation to produce a range of new biobased products, including food and feed ingredients, through a multi-stakeholder approach in line with circular economy. The project will showcase a portfolio of new ‘urban biowaste to biobased products’ processes starting from different feedstocks i.e. fish and meat waste, spent coffee grounds, household source separated biowaste, used cooking oils, waste derived from municipal wastewater and waste treatment plants and sewage sludge.
ALIGNED
ALIGNED will collaborate with industries and representatives from five bio-based sectors: Construction, woodworking, textile, pulp and paper, and bio-chemicals to harmonize and advance the scientific use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the bio-based sector. The models and tools developed in ALIGNED will allow to perform high-quality assessment studies across the bio-based sectors, with industrial relevance and interoperability.
More projects…
…coming soon!