From 9 Mar 2021 23:00:00 GMT1 to 9 Mar 2021 23:00:00 GMT1
One of the great challenges and doubts when creating a bio-based company or working with bioproducts, is to get access to financing and investors.
Investors are an important stakeholder involved in bioeconomy, they can give a clearer picture of what the challenges are in this specific topic and what is necessary or how can they be addressed.
AseBio Investor Day, an event whose main objective is to put in contact biotechnological companies and innovative projects in search of funding with investors, both national and international is considered an ideal place in order to boost the participation of investors in the BIOVOICES MML. The program includes conferences, company presentations and one-to-one meetings, so the participants can also deepen in the contacts that they make.
From 9 Mar 2021 23:00:00 GMT0 to 9 Mar 2021 23:00:00 GMT0
The MML workshop was based around the above question, using the Mentimeter tool to aid discussion
with participants. After each slide a short discussion was held about the results.
1. Are bio-based packaging alternatives sustainable?
2. Which of the following issues do you see as the challenges to achieving sustainable BB packaging?
- Confusion about claims by manufacturers
- Wide variety of materials on the market
- Lack of appropriate recycling infrastructure in the UK to deal with BB packaging
- Inadequate government policy relating to industry standards & labelling
3. Are 2G waste streams the answer to producing sustainable BB packaging?
4. What opportunities are there for utilizing sustainable 2G waste streams?
5. Will UK government policy on standards for BB packaging drive acceleration of availability & use?
6. What current challenges mitigate against availability, use and disposal of BB packaging?
7. Are consumers being misled by current practice?
8. Is your organization combating consumer confusion?
From 14 Jan 2021 13:30:00 GMT1 to 14 Jan 2021 16:30:00 GMT1
Segui il webinar su: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88011848304?pwd=UFZLZzRDaGNLcjdOOUMyNFFlVk1vUT09
Contesto: L'elevata funzionalità e il costo relativamente basso della plastica ne hanno agevolato un’ampia diffusione nella vita di tutti i giorni. La plastica svolge un ruolo cruciale nell'economia mondiale e fornisce applicazioni essenziali in molti settori con un uso crescente in applicazioni di breve durata. Tuttavia, non sempre le plastiche sono progettate per essere riutilizzate o riciclate a costi contenuti. Ciò implica che i relativi modelli di produzione e consumo mostrano sempre più la loro inefficienza. L’emergenza sanitaria dovuta alla pandemia da COVID-19 ha determinato una crescita importante nell’uso degli imballaggi e dei prodotti in plastica monouso (come guanti e mascherine). Questa situazione ripropone la necessità di discutere e affrontare i problemi connessi all’uso delle plastiche, come produrre gli imballaggi, come favorire e potenziare un ciclo di trattamento dei rifiuti plastici virtuoso.
Nell'Unione Europea, l'80-85% dei rifiuti marini sono costituiti da materiale plastico, nello specifico solo gli oggetti in plastica monouso rappresentano il 50% e quelli correlati alla pesca il 27% del totale. L' inquinamento terrestre e la contaminazione del suolo da parte di oggetti di plastica, dai più grandi alle microplastiche, può essere significativo visto che i materiali plastici possono penetrare nell'ambiente marino. La crescita esponenziale della plastica, dispersa nell’ambiente, sta ora minacciando la sopravvivenza del nostro pianeta, producendo problemi quali l’avvelenamento e il danneggiamento della vita marina e terrestre producendo talvolta ripercussioni ormonali per il genere umano e animale.
Per far fronte a queste sfide, nel maggio 2019 è stata approvata la direttiva UE sulla plastica monouso (SUP). La direttiva introduce nuove restrizioni su specifici prodotti in plastica monouso e stabilisce che entro il 2021 l'uso delle plastiche monouso dovrà essere completamente vietato e sostituito con altro materiale non inquinante. In base alle nuove normative, vengono introdotte misure specifiche per ridurre l'uso dei prodotti più frequentemente tracciabili negli ambienti marini.
Gli Stati Membri hanno tempo fino al 3 luglio 2021 per attuare la direttiva nella legislazione nazionale e per affrontare le questioni economiche e sociali che la nuova legislazione produrrà.
Tuttavia, molte questioni relative alla produzione, al consumo e allo smaltimento delle materie plastiche, sia da fonti fossili sia biologiche, rimangono irrisolte.
C'è stato un rapido incremento di soluzioni alternative compostabili promosse in sostituzione degli articoli monouso in plastica come cannucce, bicchieri, piatti e posate. Va sottolineato che i prodotti in plastica totalmente o parzialmente bio-based non sono l'unica alternativa ai prodotti monouso; i principali problemi sono legati al trattamento di fine vita di questi materiali, poiché i compostatori industriali spesso non sono attrezzati o disposti ad accettare materie plastiche diverse dagli imballaggi flessibili tipo shopper, a base biologica e non, poiché il tempo di degradazione (stabilito nella norma europea EN 13432) è più lungo rispetto ai loro standard attuali. Inoltre, attualmente non esiste uno standard internazionale che specifichi le condizioni per il compostaggio domestico di materie plastiche biodegradabili.
Obiettivi: Questo webinar si propone di facilitare la discussione e la collaborazione tra gli stakeholders della quadrupla elica (ricerca, industria, responsabili politici e società civile) per condividere e discutere le diverse possibilità di fruizione di soluzioni sostenibili e innovative che coinvolgono l’uso delle plastiche e per guidare la transizione verso una produzione, un consumo e un ciclo virtuoso di recupero, unito ad uno stile di vita più sostenibile. Inoltre, il webinar costituirà un momento di scambio di conoscenze basate sull’evidenza fra le diverse istituzioni operative che lavorano in prima linea nel settore, i ricercatori, gli imprenditori e gli esperti. rispetto alle strategie e alle prassi attuative.
Argomenti di discussione: Per affrontare le sfide sopra menzionate, il webinar, co-organizzato dai progetti BIOVOICES e BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE, intende stimolare il dibattito su quattro possibili percorsi orientati ad affrontare questioni fondamentali quali:
• prevenzione / ridurre al minimo le materie plastiche (fossili o bio-based)
• aumentare il riciclo / riutilizzo delle materie plastiche fossili
• compostaggio della plastica bio-based
• riciclare / riutilizzare la plastica bio-based
• attivare percorsi educativi sui temi precedenti
From 18 Dec 2020 10:00:00 GMT2 to 18 Dec 2020 12:00:00 GMT2
Under the principle “From Seeds to People” (EIB), the event reunited stakeholders from agribusiness, with a strong insight on the direct dependency relations between agro-industrial economic activities and the development at the level of rural communities. Following the essential role of agriculture for livelihoods and food security, the MML followed the convergence between local entrepreneurship, employment, and social development, perceived as a key element for empowering communities, under the framework of Community-led Local Development (CLLD). For this reason, the vault key of the workshop was represented by the way bioeconomy is acting as a development catalyst, having the communities providing with an economic development model fully committed to bioeconomy-based models, namely sustainable development, and circular economy.
From 16 Dec 2020 09:00:00 GMT-12 to 16 Dec 2020 11:00:00 GMT-12
***The recording of the video is available on the Biovoices YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/q8a7eayWB9Q***
The full development of a sustainable European bio-based industry would represent a suitable pathway for achieving several Sustainable Development Goals. The introduction of Bio-based products and solutions depict a great opportunity to reconcile sustainable long-term growth with environmental protection through the prudent use of renewable resources for industrial purposes.
Given this, the introduction of bio-based products in the packaging sector is a prominent topic. According to Eurostat , every European makes large use of packaging: indeed, only in 2017, more than 172 kg of packaging waste was generated per inhabitant in the EU-27, a number that is increasing year after year. In addition to the improvement of the re-using and re-cycling systems, the sector should become more sustainable increasing the adoption by brands and companies of bio-based packaging.
In the meanwhile, several R&I activities has been implemented in the last years in order to create bio-based materials able to replace the fossil-based plastics in packaging, in particular in food sector (e.g. new biodegradable materials, increasing their performance, extending product’s life and reducing costs).
However, the market uptake of these innovations can be slowed down by the purchase behaviour of consumers: in spite of the general and increasing positive attitude towards green products, consumers could be discouraged in choosing food products with bio-based packaging due to the general higher prices or due to some issues, real or perceived (e.g. possible concerns about functionalities and performances compared to the fossil-based packaging, health and safety concerns, lack of standards and labelling ).
Starting from the main results of R&I projects in bio-based food packaging and from the consumers’ expectations and concerns, the workshop will ease the dialogue among quadruple helix stakeholders in order to co-create recommendations and possible solutions to be taken to boost the adoption of bio-based packaging and create a favourable environment for consumers’ habits change. In particular, the discussion will be developed according three pillars of a product life-cycle: the ecodesign, the consumers’ acceptance and its end of life.
Event details and relevant documents produced during the workshop will be published and available on the Biovoices Platform.
***The recording of the video is available on the Biovoices YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/q8a7eayWB9Q***
From 14 Dec 2020 09:00:00 GMT1 to 14 Dec 2020 11:00:00 GMT1
The workshop “Connecting marine bio-based products for a sustainable future” aims at supporting the strengthening of the local action plans for bioeconomy, and it will be focused on sea and marine bio-based products.
The workshop will be based on an exchange of experiences, knowledge and innovations between the Mediterranean área and the northern área.
Bioeconomy related research and innovation (R&I) is a priority for most of
European countries and regions in the time period 2014-2020. In most of the countries of European Union and Neighboirhood exhisting bioeconomy related aspects in their 2014-2020 R&I priorities and plans. However, denominations of bioeconomy aspects in the different territorial unit scan vary enormously. The International cooperation represents a crucial aspect to standardise and streamline the European Countries bioconomy policy. It focuses on activities where:
- the region are facing common challenges and thus where common approaches are most effective;
- a shared resource is concerned for which common responsibility needs to be taken, such as the Mediterranean Sea;
- partners seek to move jointly towards more integrated economies, and need to work in a coordinated manner on such issues as transport networks or electricity transmissions.
Most of the regional cooperation activities support priorities agreed jointly by the partners in Ministerial meetings covering the region. It’s important bring the interaction also at the European Level, in fact International cooperation offers a unique opportunity for people to sit around the same table and be part of a dialogue. As people work together, experiences are shared, relationships built, networks created and common activities carried out. While many of these projects involve technical dialogue with partner governments , civil society and other local stakeholders are also part of this effort.
Starting from the analysis of local feedstocks, speakers of the round table will present technologies solutions, innovative ideas, and challenges within the context of Marine bio-based economy. Thanks to interactive tools, the audience will be actively engaged in the co-creation of new solutions, business opportunities and concrete actions to boost local development through the potentialities offered by bioeconomy.
Research, authorities and enterprises will discuss on opportunity to exploit, in sustainable way, fishery and aquaculture by-products and marine resources to realize marine biobased products (MBBP) and promote the circular economy.
Representative of the fisheries, aquaculture and processing sectors, will also refer about the side effects that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing on the supplies and value-chains, giving suggestions, useful to promote new research strategies aimed to support them.
From 9 Dec 2020 14:30:00 GMT2 to 9 Dec 2020 18:00:00 GMT2
The workshop is organised the occasion of the World Soil Day (5/12/2020, http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/en/) and is dedicated to soil, the products it gives us and how they affect soil health when they return to it through biodegradation.
The event is supported by the EU funded projects: MAGIC (www.magic-h2020.eu, GA# 727698), PANACEA (www.panacea-h2020.eu, GA# 773501) and BIOVOICES (www.biovoices.eu, GA# 774331)
From 26 Nov 2020 09:00:00 GMT1 to 26 Nov 2020 10:30:00 GMT1
El proyecto europeo financiado por la Horizon 2020, BIOVOICES organizará un Mobilisation and Mutual Learning Workshop con el objetivo involucrar a todos los actores, con el fin de promover y facilitar el acceso de los bioproductos al mercado.
Para ello contaremos con la colaboración del centro tecnológico experto en innovaciones en el sector agroalimentario, AINIA.
Durante el workshop discutiremos sobre si la figura de subproducto definida en España representa una gran oportunidad para concebir los residuos como recursos y compartiremos las perspectivas de diferentes actores (agricultores, consumidores, investigadores y empresas de alimentación).
Por último, y para recoger el feedback de todos los asistentes se utilizará una herramienta telemática para buscar soluciones a los desafíos que se nos presentan en este campo.
From 22 Nov 2020 09:00:00 GMT1 to 22 Nov 2020 10:30:00 GMT1
Los proyectos europeos financiado por la Horizon 2020, y la BBI, BIOVOICES y BioBridges junto con la Plataforma de Mercados Biotecnológicos, organizarán un Workshop en la Maker Fair de Galicia con el objetivo involucrar a todos los actores y conocer la importancia de la colaboración y la comunicación en el acceso de los bioproductos al mercado.
Durante el workshop se mostraran ejemplos de empresas que trabajan en bioeconomia, y proyectos de investigación, así como casos de éxito en el área de comunicación y discutiremos sobre cómo y cualés son las mejorar las vías de transmisión de la información y de hacer llegar los bioproductos al mercado.
Por último, y para recoger el feedback de todos los asistentes se utilizará una herramienta telemática para buscar soluciones a los desafíos que se nos presentan en este campo.
