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There is another way to make these everyday things, and the UK<\/a> is exceptionally good at it. Yet right now, we risk handing that advantage to our competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The UK bioeconomy<\/a> uses biological resources, such as plants, algae, microorganisms and agricultural or food waste<\/a>, to make the ingredients and materials we already know and use. It\u2019s already happening in UK factories and labs, turning out commercial products rather than science projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the North West, Holiferm<\/a> is rethinking one of the most common ingredients in the home. The foaming agents in soap and household cleaners are usually made from petrochemicals or palm oil. Holiferm ferments sugar, using microbes, to produce biosurfactants that do the same job, without oil wells or palm plantations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shellworks<\/a> is tackling the product packaging problem. It ferments waste biomass into packaging<\/a> that can be composted at home and is free from BPA, PFAS and phthalates. Crucially, it runs on existing plastic manufacturing lines, so brands don\u2019t need new factories to switch, and it is already on supermarket shelves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Globally, the bioeconomy is forecast to be worth over \u00a330 trillion by 2050. With the right policy support, bio-based chemicals and materials alone could generate upwards of \u00a3200 billion in annual revenue for UK plc by the same date, create 4,500 new skilled jobs each year, and save over five million tonnes of CO2 annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a security case too. In fact, the energy price shock triggered by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine cost the UK \u00a3183 billion over four years. The chemicals and materials supply chain carries the same exposure; a domestic bioeconomy built on UK-grown crops, algae and industrial waste cannot be disrupted by a war or an oil decision made on the other side of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And unlike AI, where the UK is trying to chase the US and China, this is a market we already lead but are being severely held back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Government has committed \u00a32 billion over the next decade to bio-based innovation, yet fewer than one in ten of the innovations it funds ever make it out of the lab. Bio-based products take up to 45% longer to reach market, and cost more than double to approve, compared with their fossil equivalents. Part of the reason is that nobody owns the brief. Responsibility is split across several departments, making the UK the only G7 country without a bioeconomy strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, one arm of government funds innovation while another taxes it out of the market. The Plastic Packaging Tax gives credit for recycled fossil content but none for renewable carbon (biomass) content. And many carbon accounting standards were built with fossil products as the default, meaning a genuinely sustainable bio-based product can score as up to 103% more damaging than it really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The consequences are already visible. Of 45 bio-based companies we surveyed, more than half were considering moving production to the EU or North America. Not because the science is better there, but because the finance and infrastructure are. If we don\u2019t act, the jobs, investment and intellectual property we have paid to create will leave with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is why the BioRevolution Coalition, backed by more than 60 organisations spanning industry, start-ups, researchers and academics, has launched a petition<\/a> calling for five specific reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, put one minister in charge of the bioeconomy, so companies have a single point of contact instead of being passed between four government departments. Second, fix the tax and policy mismatches that penalise bio-based products. Third, align carbon accounting by mandating the new BS EN 18027:2025 standard whenever bio-based and fossil-based materials are compared. Fourth, use public procurement to create demand, starting with an NHS pilot; around \u00a35.5 billion of the health service\u2019s single-use plastic contracts could technically be switched to bio-based alternatives today. Fifth, back first-of-a-kind commercial biorefineries, matching the \u00a3184 million already committed to scale-up infrastructure with co-funding, just as the National Wealth Fund model helped offshore wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n None of this means weakening safety standards. In fact, much of it is not new spending at all, but removing penalties that should have never existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the UK\u2019s Autumn Budget approaching, the Government is searching for growth. It does not need to look far. The bioeconomy offers high-value jobs in the regions, from Scotland\u2019s biorefining corridor to Yorkshire\u2019s chemicals belt and the North West\u2019s fermentation base, alongside a more resilient supply chain and progress on net zero<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTwo companies showing what\u2019s possible<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The size of the prize<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The problem is not our science; it is our policy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Five changes that would make the difference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A choice for the Budget<\/h3>\n\n\n\n