The war in Ukraine has sharpened European leaders’ focus on finding the best way to build a more robust economic base, reduce strategic dependencies and reinforce the supply of critical materials. The bioeconomy however is being unjustly overlooked according to Rupp.
The bioeconomy employs 18.4 million people and has a turnover of €2.4 billion per year, of which approximately 25% is generated by bio-based industries. They make bio-based products and materials from recyclable and renewable raw materials sourced from Europe, which are themselves recyclable, reusable and compostable or biodegradable. Biorefinery makes it possible to produce a multitude of products, such as animal feed, foodstuffs, fertilisers, bioenergy and biobased materials and chemicals, with low greenhouse gas emissions, without waste and without the need for fossil fuels.
Regulations must allow these innovative products to be brought to the market quickly. It should also make it easier to create financial synergies, for instance by combining public and private financing instruments. Thus, the biobased industries can bring circularity, sustainability and competitive production to Europe. “What are we waiting for?”, asks Rupp.
Read the full blog post titled ‘A recipe for more resilience and robustness in Europe’s economy: The bio-economy has all the ingredients’ on Agro&Chemistry.
