{"id":86213,"date":"2021-03-12T06:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T05:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rss.nova-institut.net\/public.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Filbioeconomista.com%2F2021%2F03%2F04%2Fan-interview-with-giulia-gregori-strategic-planning-manager-at-novamont%2F"},"modified":"2021-03-11T16:06:52","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T15:06:52","slug":"an-interview-with-giulia-gregori-strategic-planning-manager-at-novamont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/an-interview-with-giulia-gregori-strategic-planning-manager-at-novamont\/","title":{"rendered":"An interview with Giulia Gregori, Strategic Planning Manager at Novamont"},"content":{"rendered":"

The paradigm of the circular bioeconomy for Novamont means renerating territories, focusing on soil health and on the decarbonisation of the atmosphere\u201d. To say it \u2013 in this interview with Il Bioeconomista \u2013 is Giulia Gregori, Strategic Planning and Corporate Communications Manager at Novamont<\/a>, the company based in Novara, Italy, which is a leader in the world market of bioplastics. Gregori talks about the circular bioeconomy in the frame of the EU Green Deal and the circular economy action plan and talks also about Grace, the BBI JU demo project focused on hemp and miscanthus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso<\/em><\/p>\n

Novamont is leading the way in the circular\u00a0bioeconomy. What does this economic and social\u00a0paradigm\u00a0represent for your company?<\/h3>\n

The paradigm of the circular\u00a0bioeconomy\u00a0for\u00a0Novamont\u00a0means regenerating territories, focusing on soil health and on\u00a0the\u00a0decarbonisation\u00a0of the atmosphere.\u00a0Novamont\u2019s\u00a0circular\u00a0bioeconomy\u00a0model\u00a0integrates\u00a0chemistry and agriculture\u00a0with the environment. It\u00a0starts from the\u00a0reindustrialisation\u00a0of no longer competitive sites thanks to\u00a0world\u2019s first proprietary technologies,to transform them into integrated\u00a0biorefineries.\u00a0In this way, Novamont contributes to regenerate industrial and rural areas at risk of abandonment, with positive effects on employment and local economies, while preserving virgin land from soil consumption, and contributing to the reduction of CO2<\/sub> emissions through the energy efficiency of the plants and the exploitation of process\u00a0byproducts.\u00a0Another substantial element is the development of an integrated agricultural value\u00a0chain starting from low-impact and low-input\u00a0oleaginous\u00a0drycrops, together with the development of processes and products starting from waste (organic waste, pulp, paper, wastewater, etc.).\u00a0All this leads\u00a0Novamont\u00a0to the development of biodegradable products\u00a0from renewable origins, such as bioplastics,\u00a0bioherbicides,\u00a0biolubricants, ingredients for cosmetics, designed not to pollute compost,\u00a0soil,\u00a0and\u00a0water, closing the carbon cycle.<\/p>\n

You are a partner of many BBI JU projects, including the demo project Grace. What is the goal of this project and what is your role?<\/h3>\n

The GRACE project demonstrates large-scale\u00a0miscanthus\u00a0and hemp production on land with low productivity, contaminated soil or which\u00a0has been abandoned. The aim is to secure the supply of sustainable-produced raw materials for the growing European\u00a0Bioeconomy.\u00a0In the project, ten different demonstration cases\u00a0are used\u00a0to show how biomass cultivation can be linked to the near-industrial-scale production of various\u00a0biobased\u00a0products.\u00a0The\u00a0Bioeconomy\u00a0project GRACE is made up of a consortium of 22 partners from both academia and industry\u00a0and also\u00a0includes SME\u2019s, farmers and an industrial cluster.\u00a0Novamont\u2019s\u00a0role is to implement and optimize the use of feedstocks coming from hemp and\u00a0miscanthus\u00a0(vegetable oil,\u00a0second generation\u00a0sugars, fibers)\u00a0to design and produce innovative\u00a0solutions\u00a0with a lower environmental impact for agricultural applications. Bio-herbicides, mulch films and pots obtained using innovative technologies and feedstocks\u00a0will be developed\u00a0in two demo cases within the GRACE project.<\/p>\n

What are the policies to\u00a0be implemented\u00a0in Europe to favor the development of the\u00a0bioeconomy?<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0bioeconomy\u00a0represents a rapidly evolving sector,\u00a0which\u00a0can really contribute to the creation of a development model compatible with the protection of ecosystems, with the mitigation of climate change and people\u2019s well-being, creating new value and jobs.\u00a0To foster this sector\u00a0we need to build a coherent\u00a0legislative framework in line with the\u00a0European strategies and policies\u00a0to tackle the challenge of climate neutrality by 2050 and the increase of the target to reduce greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030.\u00a0For\u00a0instance,\u00a0if on the one hand Europe pushes toward closing the carbon cycle, bringing back organic matter to soil, and therefore to the full recycling and reuse of waste process.\u00a0Furthermore, it should be ensured that new sustainable products\u00a0can\u00a0find easilyaccess to the market.\u00a0The development of a more coherent policy framework will allow public-private partnerships\u00a0as the BBI JU\u00a0to express their full potential.<\/p>\n

As far as\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0concerned, what impact will covid19 have on sustainable development policies?<\/h3>\n

From an environmental point of view, we are witnessing continuously growing emissions, the loss of biodiversity, the exploitation of ecosystems, increasingly heavily impacted by anthropogenic action and climate change. The Covid-19 pandemic is only one of the crises, which made us\u00a0touch our low resilience, and as reported by a 2020 IPBES study, pandemics will emerge more often unless there is a transformation in the global approach of those same human activities that have impacts on ecosystems.\u00a0This concept is becoming increasingly clear to international communities, and not only the Green Deal, but also the Next Generation EU, are showing that sustainable development\u00a0policies\u00a0for Europe\u00a0are\u00a0the only possible choice.<\/p>\n

What is your opinion regarding the European Green Deal, where the concept of\u00a0bioeconomy\u00a0is currently missing?<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0\u201cNew Circular Economy Action Plan\u201d\u00a0is\u00a0one of the main blocks of the European Green Deal,\u00a0however it\u00a0is\u00a0still very focused on mechanical recycling on one side and litter on the other.\u00a0Of course, there is the need\u00a0to strengthen the concept of the carbon cycle,\u00a0overcoming a silos approach,\u00a0because there cannot be circularity\u00a0without\u00a0taking into account the\u00a0bioeconomy\u00a0in a systemic way.\u00a0For example,\u00a0compostable\u00a0bioplastics\u00a0should be seen\u00a0not as simple\u00a0bioproducts, but in connection to organic waste,\u00a0as an opportunity to close the loop of the carbon cycle,\u00a0bringing\u00a0back carbon in soil and reducing\u00a0plastic contamination of soils. In any case, the Next Generation EU will\u00a0be an essential tool\u00a0to build a\u00a0strong and resilient circular\u00a0bioeconomy,\u00a0incorporating the Green Deal\u00a0and taking into account all the related strategies such\u00a0as the\u00a0Bioeconomy\u00a0Strategy, the Circular Economy Package, the Biodiversity Strategy, the future CAP\u00a0and\u00a0the Farm to Fork Strategy.<\/p>\n

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The paradigm of the circular bioeconomy for Novamont means renerating territories, focusing on soil health and on the decarbonisation of the atmosphere\u201d. To say it \u2013 in this interview with Il Bioeconomista \u2013 is Giulia Gregori, Strategic Planning and Corporate Communications Manager at Novamont, the company based in Novara, Italy, which is a leader in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,15434],"supplier":[9996,509],"class_list":["post-86213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-politics","supplier-il-bioeconomista","supplier-novamont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86213"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=86213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}