At last week’s workshop “Biobased Industries and Biomaterials - Opportunities for Acceleration”, Director-General Kerstin Jorna and Deputy Director-General Maive Rute steered a lively and constructive discussion among key stakeholders on opportunities and obstacles to accelerate the uptake of bio-based materials and bio-innovation chemicals. In total over 170 participants – from both private and public sectors – shared their experiences and views on the potential of bio-based materials to increase the sustainability of industry and to contribute to the European Green Deal objectives.

During a fruitful discussion, stakeholders brought up ideas and suggestions on how to accelerate the move towards a sustainable bioeconomy. They mentioned availability and affordability of bio-based solutions as important aspects to increase investment and consumer demand. Several speakers pointed to the need for a coherent and enabling regulatory framework. Furthermore, some participants suggested the introduction of targets for bio-based content. Renewability of materials, as one of the building blocks of sustainability, was said to be as important as recyclability. Moreover, the use of public procurement, standardisation and labelling should be further explored to speed up market uptake of innovative and sustainable bio-based products.

The Commission invites all participants and other interested stakeholders to send written contributions by the end of May to GROW-F2@ec.europa.eu. Based on this first workshop and any additional input from stakeholders, the Commission will follow up with dedicated workshops after the summer break to explore further how EU policies and instruments (e.g. procurement, standards, labelling) could be shaped to accelerate the uptake of bio-based materials. This work will also serve as a key building block in the preparation of a strong industrial bioeconomy agenda for the next Commission.