Digital Solutions for a Bio-Based Future – Empowering Industry and Consumers

Digital innovation can play a crucial role in strengthening the competitiveness of bio-based feedstocks and products in the European bioeconomy. By providing consumers and industry with essential information on sustainability and circularity criteria of bio-based products and their value chains, digital solutions and tools improve the tracking and traceability of biological feedstocks from their origin to a final product. These digital tools offer valuable insights into a wide range of sustainability criteria, e.g., climate impacts, environmental effects on soil, water and air quality and technical performance. By covering these key areas, digital tools enable a holistic understanding of the sustainability performance of bio-based products and processes throughout their lifecycle.

Digital solutions are also instrumental in the realm of Labels and Certification Schemes (LCS) for bio-based products. These digital tools provide essential information on trustworthy eco-labels and clarify requirements for concise certifications of bio-based value chains. This capability is particularly valuable in promoting transparency and boosting consumer confidence in bio-based products. By offering clear insights into eco-label standards and certification processes, these digital tools empower both consumers and industry stakeholders to make informed decisions, ultimately fostering greater trust in the bio-based sector.

Building upon these capabilities, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies offer a unique advantage in this context. These tools are designed to continuously learn from user and developer input, enabling them to analyse and pass on current and real-time data on raw material flows, value chain information, and the sustainability of bio-based products.

Digital solutions are set to boost the European bioeconomy by providing critical information on feedstock tracking, sustainability, and certification for bio-based products.

To showcase these advances, a free webinar hosted by Horizon Europe projects 3-CO and BioReCer will introduce several innovative digital tools. 

Scheduled for April 8, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM CET, the event offers an excellent opportunity to understand the future of digital technologies in the bioeconomy. Four tools developed by EU-funded projects will be presented and made available to users in the near future.

3-CO (https://3co-project.eu/) 

Loha Hashimi and Armand Carreras from ENIDE will present the consumer-based digital solutions developed within the project 3-CO that provides information on eco-labels and certification of bio-based products from different categories in order to support sustainable consumption.

BiobasedCert Cluster (https://sustcert4biobased.eu/about-us/biobasedcert-group/)

The BiobasedCert Cluster consists of the three EU-funded projects Star4bbs (https://star4bbs.eu/), HARMONITOR (https://www.harmonitor.eu/) and Sustcert4Biobased (https://sustcert4biobased.eu/). Luana Ladu from TU Berlin will present an app that assesses the robustness, comprehensiveness and effectiveness of existing certification schemes and labels for bio-based value chains.

Bioradar (https://www.bioradar.org/)

David Nettleton and Poojan Timilsina from IRIS Technology will present the project’s digital self-assessment tool that assesses the performance of industrial bio-based systems, aiding relevant stakeholders in informed decision-making.

BioReCer (https://biorecer.eu/)

Romain Magnani from EGM will present the BioReCer ICT tool (BIT), an automated assessment tool that collects and transmits real-time data on the environmental performance of bio-based value chains promoting environmentally conscious decisions and sustainable practices in the bioeconomy. 

About the Organisers

BioReCer (Biological Resources Certifications Schemes) aims at assessing and complementing current certification schemes for biological resources according to the new EU sustainability goals to enhance bio-based circular systems. This will be achieved by including new criteria that align with EU taxonomy and EU corporate due diligence regulations into guidelines for certifying biological resources’ sustainability, origin, tracking and traceability (T&T), and by ensuring applicability at EU and global scale. By promoting the sustainability and trade of biological resources, BioReCer will increase the added value, use, as well as social acceptance of bio-based products.

The key objective of the project 3-CO (Concise Consumer Communication through Robust Labels for Biobased Systems) is to support sustainable consumption and improve consumer behaviour through smart digital solutions and guidelines for Labelling and Certification Scheme holders. 3-CO will therefore develop and demonstrate the viability of a supportive framework for LCS on Business-to-Consumers (B2C) communication for industrial bio-based products, and will publish guidelines for label development.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Source

nova-Institute, original text, 2025-02-18.

Supplier

European Union
Horizon Europe
nova-Institut GmbH

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