This publication is one of the results of the research programme DIRECT: Designing inclusively for a safe and sustainable circular economy transition. It focuses on incorporating principles of safety, sustainability and circularity in the design process.
In three practical studies, RIVM specifically studied the sectors industrial biotechnology, plastic medical devices and solar panels. For each sector, it identified the areas for improvement and the requirements for achieving this.
For example, for industrial biotechnology, a number of tools are highlighted for assessing the subsequent processing steps: the selection and treatment of bio-resources (biomass resource), the fermentation process, the micro-organisms used and the ‘down stream processing’ (extraction, purification, etc.).
The roadmap also includes a helpful overview of the Dutch and European legislation faced by companies working in industrial biotechnology.
The Industrial Biotechnology Roadmap can be downloaded (as an English-language PDF) from the RIVM website.
Image: Akimov Igor/Shutterstock
