Circular bio-based systems have the potential to substantially contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal, particularly its Zero Pollution Action Plan, and the 2030 Climate Target Plan, if they are sustainably developed. Concurrently, there is growth in sustainability certification schemes and business-to-business labels as major tools for global production and trade to become more sustainable, and for the private sector to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. However, how do we ensure the credibility of these tools and move towards their harmonisation?
This is where the Horizon Europe-funded project SUSTCERT4BIOBASED – Sustainability Certification for Bio-based Systems (2022-2025) comes into play for a circular and sustainable bio-based industry.
WHITE with four partners from the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and Belgium have already started collaborating closely in developing a monitoring system to evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of sustainability certification schemes and labels for bio-based products.
SUSTCERT4BIOBASED aims to harmonise the sustainability schemes and assess their effectiveness for a circular and sustainable bio-based industry. Throughout the project’s lifecycle, the partners will review and analyse the existing international and EU sustainability certification schemes and labels for biological resources and bio-based products. The developed monitoring system will be tested on the existing schemes and labels and their strengths and weaknesses will be identified. Costs and benefits from the adoption of certification schemes and labels will be assessed, considering actual economic as well as internalised socio-environmental ones. Data will be generated on volumes of biological resources and bio-based products in global trade flow, and to the extent of their certification. Eventually, the project will provide key recommendations for the governments and policymakers, the sustainability system community, the industrial bio-based value chain actors, and the regional bio-economy stakeholders.
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Consortium Partners:
Stichting Wageningen Research (WR) – Coordination
Fundación Circe Centro de Investigación de Recursos y Consumos Energéticos (CIRCE)
White Research SRL (WHITE) – Dissemination
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