The Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), Europe’s leading industry association putting circularity, innovation and sustainability at the heart of the European bioeconomy, has published the first three in a series of new reports mapping bio-based potential and opportunities for green growth in Central and Eastern Europe.

The new reports for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania illustrate the untapped potential in these three countries identifying new opportunities for the primary sectors, the food and beverage sector, the blue bioeconomy, bio-based chemicals, etc. through opportunities to valorise side streams and waste that today have low or no value.

“BIC is committed to furthering the deployment of the bio-based economy in the EU-13. These reports indicate the bio-based sector’s vast and untapped potential to stimulate green growth and integrate new actors into bio-based value chains” says Dirk Carrez, BIC Executive Director.

The European bioeconomy already represents 11% of EU GDP (EU JRC report 2020) and these reports demonstrate the importance of building on Europe’s green growth potential in the next EU public-private partnership – Circular Bio-based Europe. For its part, BIC will build on the report’s findings through engagement with national authorities and local stakeholders.   

These three reports are the first in a series of country reports that will cover Central and Eastern Europe. New reports for Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, produced as part of the BBI JU-funded CELEBio project, and two updated BIC reports for Poland and Romania, will be available later this year. 

The Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) is the private partner in the €3.7 billion public-private partnership with the EU - the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU). Its membership includes 240+ industry members covering the whole value chain, from primary production to the market, across multiple and diverse sectors including agriculture & agri-food, aquaculture & marine, chemicals and materials, including bioplastics, forestry and pulp & paper, market sectors, technology providers and waste management & treatment. As part of its continuing efforts to identify new green growth opportunities, BIC will also be producing additional country reports for other EU members in the near future.