Public Perception Of Bio-Based Products
Creators: name: Eleni Karachaliou, Evangelia Tsagaraki
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017

description: BIOWAYS is a two-year research project, started in October 2016 and funded by Horizon 2020<br>
and the BBI-JU. The project aims to raise public awareness about the potential of bio-based<br>
products, promote their applications and benefits to society at large and provide the means<br>
for anyone with an interest in this domain to be able to follow ongoing developments in the<br>
industry and research. By providing a wide range of integrated, high-level activities,<br>
communication techniques and educational tools and materials, the project intends to<br>
increase public confidence in the bio-based industry in order to reinforce its market uptake,<br>
which in turn will positively impact on society, economy and environment.<br>
The foundation upon which these BIOWAYS objectives have been met is an understanding of<br>
the characteristics and potential of bio-based products and applications as well as an analysis<br>
of the level of public awareness and acceptance of bio-based products.<br>
To carry out this analysis, an EU-wide online survey was undertaken in parallel with desktop<br>
analysis of relevant studies, aiming to collect qualitative and quantitate data regarding the<br>
public perception on bio-based products.<br>
As a first step, relevant studies and reports on the public awareness of bio-based products and<br>
applications were reviewed and useful information gathered to provide the context for the<br>
questionnaire. Subsequently, a questionnaire consisting of six groups of questions was<br>
generated designed to evaluate the:


	level of public awareness in and engagement with bio-based products;
	public confidence in bio-based products and the reasons for using them or not;
	public perception of the benefits of using bio-based products;
	public perception of the barriers that prevent a greater use of bio-based products;
	public opinion on action to be taken so that the bio-based economy can reach its full potential.


The questionnaire was translated into seven European languages (English, Portuguese, Greek,<br>
Italian, Spanish, Slovak and Estonian) and was launched on the web using Google Forms tool<br>
on April 5th 2017. The online questionnaire remained live until May 10th 2017 and was<br>
disseminated through BIOWAYS’ official website (www.bioways.eu), partners’ personal and<br>
business networks, social media, EU consumer networks and citizens associations.<br>
The collected sample consisted of 452 respondents from various EU countries who were aged<br>
mainly between 25 and 65 years old.<br>
Of these respondents, 36.2% believe they have sufficient knowledge of bio-based products as<br>
opposed to 31.4% who stated they don’t and 32.3% who stated “Neutral/I don’t know”.<br>
The respondents were able to identify that products such as packaging material (80.8%),<br>
bioenergy for heating and electricity (80.5%), pulp and paper (72.1%), personal/home care products (68.6%), fibres and textiles (66.2%), catering products (65.7%), and<br>
construction/building materials (54.9%) can have bio-based content. However, when the<br>
respondents were asked to name examples of bio-based products that they use, in many cases<br>
appeared that the term “bio-based products” was associated incorrectly with the term<br>
“organic products”.<br>
More than a half of the respondents (50.9%), indicated that information about the benefits of<br>
bio-based products is not readily available especially as far as it concerns:


	the bio-based content and the environmental performance of bio-based products that they buy;
	the origin and production process of bio-based products that they purchase;
	the performance and functionality of bio-based products compared to their non-biobased equivalents.


There appears to be some confusion amongst the public about the labelling of bio-based<br>
products. According to the survey, 33% can “easily recognize” a bio-based product from its<br>
label, while 25.2% disagrees with that and 21.7% are unaware, responding “neutral/I don’t<br>
know”. Furthermore, 36.9% of the respondents seem not to be aware or cannot recognize<br>
whether the packaging of a product is bio-based or not.<br>
More than 40% of respondents believe that bio-based products are “trustworthy” as far as<br>
their bio-based content and environmental benefits are concerned, but less than 30% agrees<br>
that bio-based products are “trustworthy” in relation to their origin, production process and<br>
their stated health benefits.<br>
Additionally, over 60%, claimed that they had never been engaged in informative actions<br>
relevant to bio-based products and the bio-economy.<br>
The majority of the respondents (66.6%) clearly expressed a preference for bio-based products<br>
over their non-bio-based equivalents, although a considerable percentage of 25.9% wasn’t<br>
able to answer with certainty, responding “neutral/I don’t know”. The environmental benefits<br>
of bio-based products and the perception that they are safe to use were given as the main<br>
reasons for consumers choosing them over their fossil-fuel derived counterparts. However,<br>
their high price and limited availability restrain consumers from selecting bio-based products.<br>
A rate of 80% stated that their overall perception of bio-based products is positive and more<br>
than 60% seemed to be aware of the environmental benefits of using them. Nevertheless, 40%<br>
of the sample is not confident that the use of bio-based products contributes to sustainable<br>
economic growth and the creation of new jobs.<br>
Regarding the barriers that exist and prevent the use of bio-based products, 30% of<br>
respondents didn’t feel confident in assessing the possible barrier scenarios (neutral/I don’t<br>
know). The collected answers also indicated that 30% of consumers agree that the increased<br>
use of biological resources normally used in food production for non-food use will have a<br>
negative impact on our ability to produce enough food and may also lead to rising food prices.

This group also believes that the use of fertilizers and other chemicals to maintain an increase<br>
in the production of some bio-based products may lead to increased agricultural pollution.<br>
Despite this, they disagree that the production of bio-based products may lead to the<br>
overexploitation of natural resources or to increased deforestation and decreasing<br>
biodiversity.<br>
Finally, respondents identified 5 measures that should be implemented in order to facilitate<br>
the growth of bioeconomy:


	incentives for consumers to buy sustainable, bio-based products (66.8%);
	a clear certification and labelling regulation framework for bio-based products and packaging (65.7%); educational material to inform citizens and in particular younger people about biobased products (54.4%);
	support for new bio-based industries and the greening of traditional industries (51.3%);
	more informative online resources and online portals where information can be exchanged about bio-based products and their applications as well as information about producers (48.7%).


The results of the online questionnaire helped with the analysis of public opinion about biobased<br>
products and thus the identification and development of the key messages for BIOWAYS<br>
communication. This insight will also help with the development of BIOWAYS information and<br>
training materials, which are now being designed with the aim of raising public awareness of<br>
the bio-economy in Europe. Furthermore, the knowledge gained will form the basis for<br>
discussions taking place during the activities of Task 4.2 “Organization of thematic workshops,<br>
social hack days and e-conferences” and the findings will also be used as a benchmark for the<br>
Monitoring and Assessment Plan, D5.1.