Preliminary report on the environmental economic cultural and social limits
Creators: name: Mariam Rasheed
name: Ladu, Luana
name: YILAN, GÜLSAH
name: Mester, Gábor
name: Vavassori, Valentina
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: The objective of establishing a European economy with zero net emissions by 2050 necessitates a shift from traditional, fossil fuel-dependent systems to more sustainable, circular systems based on biological resources. It is crucial to undertake this transition to ensure that environmental protection is in harmony with sustainable economic growth. However, this transition is intricate and relies on various factors such as societal changes, advanced technologies, and collaboration among different entities. Consequently, a supportive policy framework is essential to successfully shape the transition.

The findings in this report showcase the outcomes of a comprehensive stakeholder consultation carried out as part of Task 1.2 of the SUSTRACK project. The objective was to identify and confirm the challenges that impede progress towards a sustainable circular bio-based economy. These barriers encompass various areas such as environmental, economic, and social sustainability, along with technical, structural, and cultural challenges. The stakeholder consultation was built upon the barriers identified through an extensive literature review in Task 1.1, as documented in D1.1. The identified barriers were initially validated through a co-creation workshop held during the EU Green Week. Following this, a series of interviews were conducted with 20 experts in the biobased economy field to further confirm the results of the workshop, allocate the barriers to the four critical sectors that the project focuses on (textile, chemical, plastics and construction), and identify any additional barriers that may have been overlooked. The resulting list of barriers was utilised in the development of a questionnaire for a more comprehensive survey during a broader consultation process.

The primary cultural barrier identified was the lack of communication regarding the advantages of bio-based products, which was closely followed by consumer confusion and mistrust due to ambiguous sustainability claims. Within the economic cluster, the high costs and risks involved in setting up circular bio-based systems were identified as the most challenging barrier. Bio-based production was also found to have higher operating costs, representing a significant barrier to the transition to a CBBE. In the environmental cluster, concerns over the limited availability of biomass within carrying capacity and the lack of knowledge and data for assessing the environmental impacts of bio-based products were highlighted. The lack of a supportive regulatory framework and its complexity, as well as conflicting policy goals were the major barriers in the governance cluster. The most pressing barrier within the structural cluster is the lack of harmonised waste collection systems and infrastructure. Furthermore, the established of circular business models is hampered by the lack of established markets and value chains for by-products. Lastly, immature technologies and insufficient capacities for EoL product treatments are considered the most challenging barriers within the technical cluster.