Bioswitch – Encouraging brand owners to switch to bio-based.

BIOSWITCH at the Projects2Projects workshop

bioswitch — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 14:48:40 +0000

John Vos, from BTG Biomass and Technology Group, was in charge of presenting BIOSWITCH at the Projects2Projects workshop organised by the European Bioeconomy Network, in collaboration with the European Commission and the projects Transition2Bio, BIOEASTsUP, BIObec and BioGov.net. On October 5, this event took place with the aim of maximise the exploitation of lessons learnt and heritage of H2020 bioeconomy projects in communication, education and stakeholder engagement. Our partner shared with all the participants the main project objectives and outcomes and also participated in fruitful discussions divided in four macroareas. For more information, you can click here.

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BIOSWITCH in the “Bio-based products: The key to climate neutrality?” webinar

bioswitch — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 14:48:58 +0000

CTA had the opportunity to participate in the “Bio-based products: The key to climate neutrality?” webinar organized by ECCP’s initiative “EU Clusters Talks”. BIObec was introduced in the event, which allowed to address the possibilities for the green transition, existing solutions, and the roll-out for the industry, as well as bio-based products as substitutes for raw materials derived from fossil fuels. Several experts in the bioeconomy field attended the conference to talk about the difficulties the field is now facing, analyse the solutions, and share their thoughts on local businesses’ successes. The lack of specialists with the knowledge and abilities for this working field has been one of the difficulties identified in the event. It was also highlighted that startups are a good way to draw in young talent who may not always see a career path in the primary industry.

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Jeisel Goyanes and Carla Sebastiani, from Sustainable Innovations, partner of the BIOSWITCH project

bioswitch — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 04:00:00 +0000

What’s your role within the BIOSWITCH project? In this project, we have two different and interlinked roles. On one hand, we are the leaders of communications and dissemination activities, meaning that we have designed and implemented a Communication Plan with different activities aimed at spreading project results and contributing to reaching all the relevant stakeholders On the other hand, we are the exploitation managers and data protection officers of the BIOSWITCH project, overseeing the exploitation of the main results of the project, drafting business plans, and data & IP protection strategies. How does your entity contribute to the bioeconomy? Sustainable Innovations is an innovation consultancy firm that has dedicated a lot of effort to create a positive impact regarding sustainability in Europe. We are very active in the bioeconomy sector, having participated in several EC funded projects, taking the results further with our Communication, Dissemination, Capacity Building and Exploitation expertise, we continuously contribute to boosting the bioeconomy industries’ growth all over Europe. What do you expect to achieve within the framework of the BIOSWITCH project? As part of our dissemination strategy, we expect to raise interest and commitment from brand owners and to increase the bio-based products demand from consumers considering their added value. As exploitation managers, we aim to support the BIOSWITCH toolbox viable exploitation strategy at the EU level. In general terms, as communication, dissemination and exploitation leaders we expect to ensure the successful exploitation of the project results and to provide a high-standard performance, ensuring that every task runs as smoothly as possible and seamless collaboration with our consortium partners. Where do you think the main change should be produced to boost bio-based alternatives in replacement for fossil-based ones? The implementation of policy and legislative tools that encourage all industries to consider the benefits of this alternative over fossil-based is key to continuing with the transition. Even if consumers are getting there already, from our perspective, we should keep raising awareness and promote the different benefits of these alternatives, so we can help to increase the demand for bio-based products, which could also increase brand owners’ interest in taking this journey. The BIOSWITCH Toolbox, which has been developed in the framework of this project, could be a good starting point for different stakeholders to understand how to take this path and contribute to the bioeconomy.

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Emma Sidgwick, from Flanders’FOOD, partner of the BIOSWITCH project

bioswitch — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 07:00:00 +0000

What’s your role within the BIOSWITCH project? Flanders’ FOOD is the spearhead cluster for the agri-food industry in Flanders. In that capacity, it is mandated and funded by the Flemish government, via its agency Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO), to take up a pivotal role in addressing the field of the bioeconomy in the innovation landscape of the agri-food sector. This also translates to our role in the BIOSWITCH project. Flanders’ FOOD is one of the four cluster partners in the BIOSWITCH project, whose main role is to establish and nourish the link between the project’s objectives and its final beneficiaries, i.e. brand owners as well as relevant industry players from their respective membership bases. As a cluster organisation, our first task is to safeguard the project’s added value to the business strategy and/or activities of our member brand owners that decided to take up an active role in the project. In this project, this mostly implies working closely together with one of the four ‘major brand owners’ involved, with whom the project consortium tested, validated and ultimately co-created the BIOSWITCH Toolbox. The cluster organisations involved in this project, also take up an instrumental role in the broader dissemination and regional replication of the final iteration of the BIOSWITCH Toolbox. That is, by sharing final outcomes and findings, but also by assessing what customisation of the Toolbox is required to cater to the needs of different regional brand owners that wish to use the Toolbox in their individual bio-based transition journeys? These roles are indeed quite aligned with why and how BBI JU (now CBE JU) sees to engage clusters in the further development and deployment of the bioeconomy: “Clusters are closer to territories and can make the necessary link between the regions and the bioeconomy / the BBI initiative” Besides these cluster-specific roles, Flanders’ FOOD has led the project activities that dealt with the validation of the communication material type tools of the BIOSWITCH Toolbox specifically. What do you offer as a cluster? It is Flanders’ FOOD’s mission to support the Flemish food industry via research and innovation in retaining and strengthening competitiveness on both the local and foreign markets. Via innovation, Flanders’ FOOD supports food companies in taking on social challenges, such as those in the domain of nutrition and sustainability. Concretely, we work on four strategic action domains. On the one hand, two knowledge-driven action domains that must increase companies’ knowledge and, on the other hand, two business-driven action domains that must help them with creating new products, processes and concepts that will stimulate their economic growth. Hence, when we involve our member companies in BBI-JU funded projects such as the BIOSWITCH project, we want to deliver on our strategy throughout bio-based themes that are relevant but often a ‘stretch’ for them. Put differently, we want to make them explore new horizons in both knowledge acquisition at industry level as well as in creating new value chains or value chain interlinkages at company level within but also beyond the agri-food sector. What can you specifically offer to brand owners within your region? Flanders’ FOOD’s four strategic domains each contain explicit research and innovation actions, which are concretised into corresponding service portfolios. These services are available to our members, mostly companies from the food processing industry including also brand owners. Within the domain Lead in Knowledge, Flanders’ FOOD draws up various innovation roadmaps, in close exchange with cluster members, which eventually lead to (mutual) knowledge development. These roadmaps offer the conceptual backdrop against which yearly many collaborative R&D&I projects, often funded by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO), get initiated with the support of Flanders’ FOOD. Roadmaps specifically geared towards bioeconomy-related topics are the roadmaps around the “Protein shift”, “By-Products/ Side-stream valorisation” (under development) and “Food packaging of the Future” in collaboration with Pack4Food. Within the domain Lead to Knowledge, the cluster disseminates the available state-of-the-art and newly generated knowledge to a wide group of food companies. Newsletters and events thus often cover topics that could be relevant for brand owners from the food industry that seek to adopt bio-based approaches in their products and (especially) packaging. The domain Accelerate Efficient & Effective Innovation puts the focus on supporting businesses in translating knowledge into concrete products, processes and (new) concepts. Services included under this domain are e.g. “Vraag@” (“Question@”) for all food-industry related questions and access to our national and international network of businesses, knowledge institutes, federations, clusters and authorities; referral to a network of pilot infrastructure for product and process testing and validation; matchmaking services in the context of start-up & corporate win-win collaborations… Again, these services are available for all brand owners from the food industry with bioeconomy-related questions and requests. Within the domain Cross/Create Value Chains, Flanders’ FOOD brings together stakeholders to achieve an open innovation culture and create win-win situations, fill in gaps and find new business opportunities. In relation to the field of the bioeconomy and biobased industry, within this domain, our services mainly consist of engaging our member companies in relevant EU-funded projects, which enable them to access and tap European-wide (open) innovation networks for the development of value chain-driven collaborations and partnerships. To find and foster the connection between European funding schemes and the innovation needs of our member companies, we work on three different pillars: Where do you think the main change should be produced to boost bio-based alternatives in replacement for fossil-based ones? Taking the point of view of more established brand owners in our membership base, Flanders’ FOOD believes that three critical leverage points could trigger a more systemic transition towards the adoption of bio-based approaches. First, brand owners should receive clear and scientifically substantiated evidence on the positive sustainability impact of bio-based transition journeys. This, in turn, could build the rationale behind value-based pricing strategies. Second, brand owners should receive support from networked intermediaries (such as clusters) to connect with and ‘funnel’ critical bio-based value chain stakeholders e.g. market-ready suppliers, material developers, or researchers. Third, brand owners should […]

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James Gaffey, from Munster Technological University, partner of the BIOSWITCH project

bioswitch — Tue, 31 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

What’s your role within the BIOSWITCH project? Our role in BIOSWITCH is to lead Work Package 1, which involves mapping and analysing brand owner and consumer perspectives on bio-based products. Within that, we conducted a Pan-EU brand study, and a regional consumer study to understand the needs, risks and motivations of these different but essential stakeholders. We also designed and hosted regional and Pan-EU workshops to engage with multi-actor stakeholders and to co-develop solutions to overcome identified risks and barriers. Later in the project, we contributed to the BIOSWITCH toolbox content development as well as replication activities. How does your entity contribute to the bioeconomy? Our research group (CircBio Research Group), is a multi-disciplinary research group comprised of lab-based and desk-based researchers ranging from post-graduate to Principal Investigator level. We participate on numerous circular bioeconomy projects at regional, national and international level. Our aim is to support Ireland and Europe’s transition to a sustainable low carbon economy, by delivering high quality research, and also supporting real-world implementation of sustainable innovations based on that research. Our group is also home to the Circular Bioeconomy Cluster South-West which helps in that regard. In addition to research, we are also active in education and talent development for the bioeconomy, delivering taught post-graduate courses, up to Masters level on bioeconomy and circular economy. What are your expectations / what do you expect to achieve within the framework of the BIOSWITCH project? I think BIOSWITCH has been playing a very important role in improving the understanding of the motivations of downstream value chain actors (e.g. brands, consumers) in the bioeconomy. The project has produced really inspiring case studies and showcases of companies of all sizes and sectors, which have already made the switch to bio-based materials, as well as an excellent toolbox to support those still in transition. I think the project is also helping to raise awareness of bio-based materials among consumers and helping to bridge the gap between bio-based industry, brands and consumers. Getting all the actors engaged is essential for success. Where do you think the main change should be produced to boost bio-based alternatives in replacement for fossil-based ones? Brands owners, being the primary focus of BIOSWITCH, can be an essential actor in enabling bio-based materials to reach mass markets. We’ve seen that for example with Coca-Cola’s plant bottle, and in recent years we are seeing more and more brands adopting these materials. At the same, we’ve found that some brands still have, among other concerns, concerns about the price and functionality of bio-based materials. So, from the research and industry side, some work still needs to be done to address and alleviate these concerns, so that even more brands see bio-based as their ingredient of choice. Consumers are also really important to bring on board. Based on our analysis in BIOSWITCH, consumers expect and want to purchase more bio-based products over the coming years. But more work still needs to be done to boost consumer knowledge about the existence and benefit of bio-based materials, in order to ensure that these are widely adopted. So, I don’t think there is one change, but rather it is an ongoing effort from all of the relevant actors to continue the journey. And while this is an ongoing journey, I think that if we look at the progress that has been made over the last 10 years, we can be reassured that we are going in the right direction.

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BIOSWITCH has come to its end!

bioswitch — Tue, 17 May 2022 14:42:57 +0000

On May 17, from 10:00 to 14:00 (CEST) the BIOSWITCH project hosted its online final event & train-the-trainer workshop with more than 50 attendees. The event started with the welcome and introduction from the communications manager of the project, Jeisel Goyanes, from Sustainable Innovations. The project coordinator Anna Tenhunen-Lunkka from CLIC Innovation Oy provided an overview of the BIOSWITCH project, including the key expected impacts, the challenges that the BIOSWITCH Toolbox responds to, and the approaches that have been followed to put Europe at the forefront of the bio-based economy. The first session of the event started with the presentation on The role of brand owners and consumers in shaping a bio-based transition for Europe by Emily Marsh from Munster Technological University. During this session, the results of different surveys and focused groups were presented, so participants had the chance to learn about brand owners’ perceptions when switching to bio-based, including the main barriers and top risks, perceived drives for growth of consumer demand and much more. The event continued with the presentation on Concrete tools to support brand owners in the shift from fossil-based to bio-based approaches. John Vos, from the Biomass Technology Group and Carmen Ronchel, from the Technological Corporation of Andalusia introduced the BIOSWITCH Toolbox, a group of materials aimed to support and boost brand owners’ transition from fossil-based to bio-based approaches, and four case studies representing four different value chains. Thordkild Qvist, from Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, and Emma Sidgwick, from Flanders’FOOD, were the main speakers of the third session focused on How to build and strengthen bio-based value chains. In this session hosted by Anna Tenhunen-Lunkka (CLIC Innovation Oy), it was discussed the urgency of today to transition to bio-based solutions and how this can be accelerated by forming those value chains and #partnerships. Thordkild Qvist and Emma Sidgwick introduced the tools for matchmaking developed in BIOSWITCH and real case examples. After that, a very interesting panel discussion took place composed of top experts from the BIOSWITCH Advisory Board members: Marco Rupp, from the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), Milica Folic, from Topsoe and Dennies Herzberg from Cluster Industrielle Biotechnologie (CLIB). Different topics were covered such as: Reaching carbon neutrality and how bio-based value chains can accelerate that; Supply security – fostering replacing fossil-based feedstock; Collaboration across stakeholders – pledges and initiatives for bio-based materials and solutions. In each of the sessions, participants could interact with the speakers through the Q&A zoom function and they were also required to provide feedback on the materials and research that were presented. For the second part of the event, the Train-the-Trainer workshop took place to support cluster managers, innovation agents and public administration to become familiar with the BIOSWITCH Toolbox so they can help brand owners from their regions when switching to bio-based approaches. Marta Macías, from Technological Corporation of Andalusia, was in charge of welcoming the attendees, reviewing the training programme and explaining the project service “Build me the value-chain”. Also, Jeisel Goyanes, from Sustainable Innovations, presented the self-assessment tool, while Tiina Vainio-Kaila, from VTT, explained the Sustainability Assessment tool. The event closed with some final remarks and the invitation to visit the project website and follow the project’s social media channels.

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Interview with Marta Macias, Innovation Manager at CTA

bioswitch — Sun, 24 Apr 2022 07:00:00 +0000

CLUSTER PARTNERS 1. What’s your role within the BIOSWITCH project? CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia) coordinates the work package aimed at replicating the project results at the European level. The main activities are the organisation of regional workshops to promote the knowledge transfer and the creation of a training programme aimed at clusters, innovation agents and public administration. 2. What do you offer as a cluster? CTA offers promotion and private funding for business R&D projects that involve research groups from public universities in Andalusia (Spain). Its funding programme for R&D projects generates stable collaborations between companies and academia and favours the technology and knowledge transfer. CTA helps companies to plan an innovation strategy, from the identification of their R&D and innovation needs to the formulation of projects to solve them and the search for partners and funding. In addition, it has deployed advanced services to help companies, universities, technology centres, public administration and other entities to transform the results achieved into business opportunities. Finally, CTA participates in research and innovation initiatives at national and international level, many of them focused on university-industry collaboration and has become a reference partner in European projects, participating in more than 25 international consortia. 3. What can you specifically offer to brand owners within your region? CTA has a multidisciplinary team of technical experts that can support brand owners in their transition to bio-based approaches. Moreover, CTA has a group of innovation consultants that can help shaping and implementing new RDI strategies that include bio-based approaches at company level. CTA can connect brand owners with other organisations in order to (re)define value chains, find new suppliers and identify partners for collaborating in RDI projects and initiatives. Finally, as an expert in public and private funding, CTA is able to assess which are the most promising funding/investment pathways to be followed by the brand owners. This way CTA can offer a systemic, holistic assistance to brand owners in their “BIOSWITCH” journey. 4. Where do you think the main change should be produced to boost bio-based alternatives in replacement for fossil-based ones? The change should stem from the quadruple helix model. Although private sector and academia are well aware of the relevance of this transition, there is still a reluctancy from some private organisations side due to regulation uncertainties, larger cost and lack of collaborators/suppliers. From the policy makers, although some advancements are being done, there is still a lot to do concerning legal aspects. As for the consumers, new generations might be more conscious about the benefits from bio-based products (for both the planet and the society), but lots of work needs to be done in order to reach other audiences.

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Interview with Thorkild Frandsen, leader of bioresources team at fbcd, one of Bioswitch’s clusters

bioswitch — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 07:00:00 +0000

1. What’s your role within the BIOSWITCH project? Food & Bio Cluster Denmark (FBCD) is one of the four cluster organisations in BIOSWITCH and as such FBCD contributes to the involvement of brand owners in the project activities. FBCD is involved in the development and validation of some of the tools in the BIOSWITCH toolbox. For instance, FBCD was involved in the preparation and presentation of the Dantoy case story showing one example of a successful transition from fossil-based toys to bio-based toys. FBCD was also main responsible for organising a Pan-European online matchmaking event. 2. What do you offer as a cluster? FBCD is a non-profit organisation operating within the agri-food value chain. FBCD has more than 340 members ranging from small start-ups to some of the largest food producing companies in the world. FBCD is a team of 40 specialists with skills within e.g., sustainable production and utilisation of bioresources, biorefining, business development and financing. FBCD is involved in a number of national and international projects centred around innovation, financing, and internationalisation within the agriculture, bioresources, energy, environmental technology, and food sectors. 3. What can you specifically offer to brand owners within your region? FBCD can support brand owners in their research, development, and Innovation activities mainly via public funded projects. In addition, FBCD undertakes international and national matchmaking activities and arranges a large number of events each year ranging from international conferences to technical seminars and workshops. As a special service FBCD can assist brand owners in identification of relevant collaboration partners. That could be suppliers of new biobased components for the brand owner´s products or it could be suppliers of biobased packaging. FBCD can also assist in identification of relevant partners for national and international innovation, development, and demonstration projects. 4. Where do you think the main change should be produced to boost bio-based alternatives in replacement for fossil-based ones? Many actions could be taken to accelerate the transition to the biobased economy. One way of increasing the demand for bio-based products is to implement tax regulations that make it more expensive to use fossil-based resources in the production. Another initiative could be to introduce certification schemes or carbon footprint labelling schemes to allow consumers to see the carbon footprint of a certain product. That would make it easier for consumers to compare carbon footprint of several products and that would assist decision making for consumers with a preference for climate friendly products.

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Heli Kangas and Kaisa Vehmas, from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, partner of the BIOSWITCH project

bioswitch — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

What’s your role within the BIOSWITCH project? We are involved in the BIOSWITCH project in three different ways. First, we are developing and validating an LCA tool. Secondly, we’re researching for a better understanding of the consumer perspectives and future expectations related to bio-based products and brands. Lastly, we are working towards increasing consumer awareness and acceptance of bio-based products and brands. How does your entity contribute to the bioeconomy? VTT actively participates in national and international research projects related to bioeconomy, and is a member of all relevant platforms and ecosystems. We can say that bioeconomy has a central role in VTT’s activities and is part of our current research strategy. What do you expect to achieve within the framework of the BIOSWITCH project? As a result of our work, we aim to develop an LCA tool that will benefit brand owners and other industries in the field of bioeconomy and we hope that it also helps us to widen our network among the stakeholders in the field of bioeconomy. Where do you think the main change should be produced to boost bio-based alternatives in replacement for fossil-based ones? As one of the challenges faced in the bio-based transition relates to consumer awareness and acceptance, we need to put much effort into raising awareness. This will also be possible by encouraging stakeholders and providing them sufficient data to make decision towards bio-based products and production. In addition, we should not forget the important role of policy and how better clarity in regulation could help to boost bio-based alternatives.

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John Vos, from BTG Biomass Technology Group BV, partner of the BIOSWITCH project

bioswitch — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

What’s your role within the BIOSWITCH project? I have a very diverse role in this project. I’m helping to make connections with similar earlier projects, and the results these generated. I’ve contributed to the approach and the questions used in the brand owner and consumer surveys and I’ve also coordinated the development of, and was a main provider of content for, the communication material tools. And last but not least I lead the identification of a series of best practice cases on companies that switched to bio-based. How does your entity contribute to the bioeconomy? The involvement of BTG Biomass Technology Group in the bioeconomy is of two kinds. As technology innovators, we develop and commercialise proprietary pyrolysis technologies and processes to produce bio-based materials and products from fast pyrolysis liquids. As consultants, we offer our expertise on technologies and markets for bio-based products and support awareness-raising in this field. In our EU-supported market uptake projects, we inform and engage with a wide range of audiences (including public procurers, bio-based and chemical industries, waste management companies, students and citizens, as well as the general public) about practical opportunities and hot-topic issues in the bio-economy. What do you expect to achieve within the framework of the BIOSWITCH project? To investigate and bundle knowledge on inspirational good practices in bio-based production and on information needs of both bio-based producers and consumers in easy-to-grasp formats that help foster the switch of these groups towards socially and environmentally responsible behaviour. Where do you think the main change should be produced to boost bio-based alternatives in replacement for fossil-based ones? In my opinion, a smart combination of technology push and market pull instruments is essential to give bio-based alternatives a real boost. Growing demand from consumers for more sustainable products has been noticeable and is highly welcome. Nonetheless supportive legislation and a level field with other biomass applications (like renewable energy production) are key for an acceleration in the take-off of bio-based production and consumption with a low environmental footprint.

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