AlpLinkBioEco

Benefits and Opportunities of Bio-Based Economy Value Chains in the Alpine Space: Recommendations

Policy Memo #01

December 2019

AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

This memo has been produced within the frame of the AlpLinkBioEco project, funded by the

Alpine Space INTERREG Programme of the European Commission. It is based on information

and data retrieved from the project deliverable D.T2.1.1 White Paper for Stakeholders prepared

by Trentino Innovation Hub (HIT) with the support of all Project Partners. And, for the present

content highlights and graphic layout specifically, with the support of Confindustria Lombardia

(Responsible Partner for the Project Communication Management).

Disclaimer

The information and perspectives set out in this memo are those of the authors and do not

necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission or the project partners’

regions. Neither the European Commission institutions and bodies nor any person acting on

their behalf may be held responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained

therein. Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, unless otherwise

stated. For use/reproduction of third party material specified as such, permission must be

obtained from the copyright. For further information about the AlpLinkBioEco project, you will

find a short description at the end of the document. To learn more and to download additional

resources please refer to the project website

https://www.alpine-space.eu/projects/alplinkbioeco/en/home

The information is provided without assuming any legal responsibility for correctness or

completeness.

© AlpLinkBioEco, 2019

AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Policy Memo

The purpose of this Policy Memo is to contribute to building awareness of benefits and potential opportunities that a bio-based economy can bring among stakeholders of the Alpine Space regions, within the sectors of Agriculture” (Agro), “Wood”, “Packaging for Food and Pharma” and “Chemistry”. The carried out analysis takes into account Regions within the AlpLinkBioEco project and which are represented by the Project Partners (namely 8 regions of the Alpine Space, i.e. Canton of Fribourg, Baden-Württemberg, Autonomous Province of Trento, Lombardy, Austria, Auvergne-Rhone Alps, Slovenia, Bavaria). Moreover, the study includes the whole Switzerland, so it comprises over 26 out of the 48 regions of the Alpine Space. 1 The analysis of the four selected Sectors, i.e. Agriculture” (Agro), “Wood”, “Packaging for Food and Pharma” and “Chemistry”, within the Regions shows “white spots” which are recorded and pointed-out as recommendations for both policy makers and other stakeholders, namely companies. In the following pages you will find the relevant Policy recommendations for policy makers and companies of the tackled Alpine Regions. These should help each and all of them in strengthening the policy framework, on one side, and improving the industrial opportunities, on the other side, in order to generate new bio-based Value Chains and business opportunities. The Recommendations and content data are featured here in visual infographics. As Annexes, in a separate file, you will also find the Facts and Figures of the Four Tackled Industry Sectors in the relevant, pin-pointed Regions. By merging the information from the three Annexes (1, 2 and 3), you can gain a helicopter view on what is presently available in the Alpine Space in the Bio-economy and the potential for further exploitation, thus generating new bio-based value chains within and across the tackled industry sectors.

The Information Source The content of this Policy Memo draws and highlights relevant information, data and facts from an extensive research carried out by the AlpLinkBioEco project partners to release the Report “White Paper” on “Benefits and Opportunities of Bio-Based Economy Value Chains” (July 2019) (see full report here https://www.alpine-space.eu/projects/alplinkbioeco/en/project-results/white-paper).

1 From November 2019, a new Projet Partner (Fraunhofer Italia) based in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano joined the project,

so formally the number of Regions represented in the project have increased. Nevertheless, the present data and information only refer to the above mentioned Regions.

AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

AlpLinkBioEco is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

AlpLinkBioEco in a Nutshell A key objective of the Alpine Space programme scope is the transition from fossil economy to bio-based economy. To achieve this objective, the Alpine Space (AS) regions have significant biomass resources, strong industry sectors and knowledge centres. Unfortunately, no holistic cross-regional approach exists to connect all relevant actors Value Chains (VCs). The biggest obstacle is for the different actors from very diverse sectors to cooperate transnationally/regionally along various sectorial bio-based VCs. The AS regions have a common challenge: to bring together bio-feedstock producers, intermediates processors, product developers and end users to address pressing societal needs with novel cross-regional and sectorial VCs for implementing a bio-based economy. In this context the AlpLinkBioEco project aims to develop a cross-regional bio-based economy strategy that includes a roadmap and demonstrators for intelligently assessing, selecting and creating innovative VCs. The project shall analyse the different regions and the Clusters with respect to their size and value in the following four business Sectors: “Agriculture” (Agro), “Wood”, “Packaging for Food and Pharma” and “Chemistry”. To reach the ambitious final objective the following specific actions will be carried out during the project implementig period (2018-2021): - Map of Existing Resources, actors and relevant policies to set-up a cross-regional database. This will allow to identify the missing links within the VCs and boost the synergies between small and large actors and enhance the economic sustainability to ensure local employment; - Value Chain Generator (VC generator) a manually developed methodology to match actors demand-oriented in new VCs. The VC generator is developed manually, tested and automated throughout the project to generate numerous potential new VCs; - New Business Opportunities to be generated within and/or across the regions using the links resulted from the VC’s Generator and relevant Descriptors. The project targets all relevant stakeholders including policy makers, cluster initiatives, sectoral agencies, research centres and Universities, all enterprises (especially SMEs), interest groups including NGOs and individual actors, who can benefit from the specific tools and engagement in the novel Value Chains.

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