The demand for sustainable and circular alternatives to fossil raw materials offers opportunities for the European biobased industry. This also applies to Central and Eastern European countries, where the development of biobased activities has been lagging behind those in Western Europe. Recently updated country reports on the biobased industry in Romania and Poland underline the huge opportunities in these countries, where untapped potential is waiting to be explored and exploited.

More than 1,000 visitors attended the second Circular Valley Forum held at Wuppertal's Historic Stadthalle (Germany) in November. This high-level event for the circular economy, organised by Circular Valley, Tech Tour and the Bio-Based Industries Consortium (BIC) brought together industry, policymakers, entrepreneurs, scientists and civil society.

Making the PVC chain circular is coming within reach as Groningen-based start-up Cescco2 can move forward with the scale-up of a new PVC upcycling technology using supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂). "It is the only green technology in the world for recycling PVC," says Francesco Picchioni, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Groningen (RUG). The project has been awarded a grant of €2.5 million from the Just Transition Fund (JTF).