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Bioeconomy products

The aim of the bioeconomy is to move industry’s raw material base towards a greater use of biogenic raw materials or to increasingly use bioinspired processes and bring to the forefront issues such as climate protection and sustainability. The bioeconomy therefore creates new opportunities for services, technologies and products. Bioeconomy products already exist, especially as far as chemicals and materials are concerned.

According to the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), biobased products are defined as "products wholly or partly derived from biomass, such as plants, trees or animals. A biobased product is normally characterised by biobased carbon content or biobased content. The product may be an intermediate, material, semifinished or final product” (EN 16575: 2014).

In particular, biobased value creation means developing products that can last on the market and meet the sustainability requirements of the bioeconomy. This balancing act is not easy, because biobased products usually have a price disadvantage compared to fossil-based products. The consequential damage to ecosystems is not priced in for fossil-based products. Fossil-based production processes have also been established for many decades and are therefore closely coordinated.

Nevertheless, companies have already achieved economic success with some bioeconomic products. Biobased products have the potential to replace or improve fossil products; biobased products with completely new properties can create completely new solutions. This is made possible through the interplay of technological innovations, as well as environmental and economic benefits. It is not just the raw material base that counts, but also the willingness to innovate with regard to the use and development of biobased technologies.

The diversity of the bioeconomy means that biobased products are not restricted to one industrial sector. There is a relatively broad spectrum of applications and markets. Specific examples of biobased products are shown in the diagram. The focus of a biobased economy is to increase value creation with these and other products, while always bearing sustainability in mind.

The figure shows a diagram with a bar, a circle, another bar and a list of words. The bars and circles are arranged below each other and contain words.
Graphic representation of biobased product examples. The graphic includes raw material sources, the raw materials derived from them for the production of biobased products, biobased intermediates and end products as well as applications of biobased products. © BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH

Bioeconomy products

  • Waste recycling in the healthcare sector - 30/01/2024

    Quality and safety of medical care are top priorities in the healthcare sector. However, this is often at the expense of climate protection, as not only are energy and raw material consumption very high, but so is the amount of waste generated due to the large number of disposable products. Sustainable product design and improved recycling strategies are therefore required to reduce waste and the CO2 footprint.

  • Preventing waste from instant meals - 05/10/2023

    Many instant meals such as ramen soups have both a protective outer packaging and individual ingredients in small plastic sachets. To prevent this environmentally harmful waste, five students at the University of Hohenheim have developed a sustainable film based on eggshells and plant proteins that dissolves in hot water and is edible.

  • 3D-Thermocell project - 17/05/2023

    Replacing plastic – for example in packaging – is not that easy but nevertheless urgently needed. In the 3D-Thermocell project, researchers at DHBW Karlsruhe are currently developing new plastic substitute products made of thermoformable paper as a renewable resource, which should be cheap and light and easy to dispose of along with waste paper. The characterisation and application of demonstration models will start soon.

Website address: https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/bw/definition/bioeconomy-products