BIOINNOVATION STRATEGIC AGENDA 1
- 1 - 1.1 The circular bioeconomy is the solution
The bioeconomy is an economy where materials, chemicals and energy originate from renewable bio-based raw materials. Increased resource-efficient use of renewable materials, and reduced use of fossil raw materials is necessary in order to create sustainable societal development. In a circular economy, resources remain within society’s sustainability cycle, instead of becoming waste. Possibly the most wellknown model of circular economics has been developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. It contains two different types of circuits – a technical one, and a biological one.² In the model, biobased renewable materials have come to be associated with biodegradability, but bio-based products also have an important role in the technological cycle, as illustrated in Figure 1. Increased resource efficiency is also a key issue in politics. As recently as 2018, the EU updated its bioeconomy strategy, and here in Sweden the government has created political momentum for the bioeconomy through the Circular and Bio-based Economy cooperation programme. Meanwhile, several regions in Sweden have also adopted their own bioeconomy agendas. In 2019, the parliament also gave the government the task of developing a national bioeconomic strategy. In 2018, a national delegation with the mission to strengthen society's transition to a resource-efficient, circular and bio-based economy, was appointed. The delegation will act as an adviser to the government, and their input will be important in the work going forward. Bioeconomics and circular economics are two complementary forces in the pursuit of sustainable development. Renewable materials and products within technical cycles combine the two concepts – something that has become a more central starting point for BioInnovation. For, at the same time as climate and resource challenges create headaches for the world's decisionmakers, strong political and technological driving forces for a growing circular bioeconomy are also created. Figure 1. Circular bio-based economy (Swedish Forest Industries Federation). 5