Bio-Economy Contribution to Circular Economy

Abstract

European policies are advocating a transition toward “bio-economy”, an economy aiming at reducing the dependence from fossil-based resources, limiting greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts, safeguarding food security and ensuring a sustainable economic growth. Besides, circular economy policies are aiming at closing the loop of resources as much as possible. The application of circular economy principles to bio-economy could represent a valuable contribution to bio-economy performance optimisation. The present paper investigates the contribution of bio-economy to circular economy. It proposes a conceptual framework to assess the potential for circularity for bio-waste and related by-products and it puts forward some considerations on the application of this framework to food waste. However, both bio-economy and circular economy may imply environmental burdens if an integrated assessment encompassing all life cycle stages of production and consumption is missing. Hence, adopting life cycle assessment is crucial to unveil trade-offs and ensuring identifying the best options for bio-economy and circular economy implementation.