In Europe, the bioeconomy has grown to €2.2 trillion ($2.61 trillion) and employs 18.6 million people, but awareness of the sector’s importance is largely unknown.
“People are completely unaware that the EU is number one in the world (for bio-based products) and they don’t know it is investing (in the bio-economy),” Susanna Albertini, managing director of FVA, tells Financial Tribune. FVA is the Italian partner of the Bioways project.
The industry’s financial benefits are also considerable. For every €1 the EU invests in the bioeconomy, €2.59 has been added by the private sector. Companies outside the EU are “getting interested” in what is going on here, adds Philippe Mengel, executive director of the BBI joint undertaking. “The EU is back on the map as a place to invest in bio-based industry.”
According to BBIJU, 45 new biobased building blocks have been developed since 2014—well above the 2020 target of 30. The sector is also expected to create 700,000 new jobs by 2030.
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