## 4.3 Legislation

Bio-based products can make the economy more sustainable and lower its dependency on fossil fuels. For this reason, the EU has declared the bio-based products sector to be a priority area with high potential for future growth, re-industrialisation, and addressing societal challenges. However, realising it requires a lot of work, including various types of governmental involvement, such as legislation.

Public instruments

The standard categories of public sector instruments are legal/regulatory, financial-economic, and communicative, set aside law enforcement. By the first three categories governments respectively oblige / forbid, tax / subsidize, and promote / discourage. Thus, by means of legislation governments have set minimum co-blending obligations for bio-ethanol and bio-diesel to stimulate the biobased economy (EC, Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC). The subsidy-instrument SDE+ (Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie) stimulated manure-digesters, biomass cofiring, and RWZI-sludge digesters. Finally, in communication authorities promote BBE, by websites (see: www.biobasedeconomy.nl), so-called ‘green deals’, and biobased labelling.

Different objectives at different levels of government result in different instruments and incentives for different sectors in the Biobased Economy. Regarding biofuels for example, the European Union, by means of the RED-directive, long had the lead over its member states. At the same moment, food safety and hygiene, made Dutch government to forbid cheap options in spreading manure used for anaerobic digestion, so-called digestate, over fields of others (Ministry van EL&I, Regels voor gebruik digestaat). In addition, as the province of North-Brabant opts for centralized manure processing, it overruled the municipality of Oss that unanimously voted against it in September 2018 (Boerderij, 24 October 2018). Note that manure based energy covers only five percent of total biomass usage for energy in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, manure digestion brings vivid examples of how societal priorities on energy, agriculture, and health, via democratic systems impacts entrepreneurship and business cases.

Public-private collaborations

Legislation, and other public sector instruments, is critically important in other BBE-cases as well, such as biobased components, (fine) chemicals, and materials (http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/biotechnology/bio-based-products_en), for a wide variety of sectors such as housing (See catalogus biobased bouwmaterialen) and vehicles (see: WTC-BBE (2014) Strategy for a green society. Biomaterials as driving force for the BBE). The Commission’s bio -economy strategy and action plan aims at shifting the European economy towards a more resource-efficient use of renewable resources (see: A resource-efficient Europe). Especially the public-private 3.7 Bln Euros Bio-Based Industries Joint-Undertaking is to advance the biobased industry with value-added products, to replace fossil-based markets. (see: BBI-JU). As regards communicative instruments, many EU-countries report that the existence of networks, platforms, associations and clusters supports the bio-based industrial sector (See: Examples of good practices reported by the BBI JU States Representatives Group, Dec 2018).

Nevertheless, the R&D investments required for new bio-based and biodegradable products, such as bioplastics have placed them at a commercial disadvantage, compared to mature, large-scale petrochemical-based plastics. Simultaneously within BBE, level-playing fields for bioplastics, components, and biomaterials is said lacking due to biofuels-blending obligations and subsidies. The hindrances are mainly due to lack of abundant, cheap biomass, too small demand, and learning curve losses. Nevertheless, important companies like Suikerunie, DSM, Avantium, Corbion, Rodenburg, and Croda, like to run their biobased R&D in Europe, if not in the Netherlands.

The Biobased Initiative Joint Undertaking https://youtu.be/-lYj_AIjEWs

What are we talking about?

Interestingly, hindrances already start with a variety in terminology, how to identify bio-based contents in blends, set sustainability and LCA-criteria, and ascertain certifications (See: CEN/TC 411 "Bio-based products”). Standards are needed to convince consumers, industrial clients, and financiers at large to prevent confusion and disagreement. It resulted in a series of standards, such as EN 16575:2014 Bio-based products – Vocabulary.

For example, the term bio-based only refers to the fact that that the product is wholly or partly derived from biomass. Likewise the C-14 content is considered an adequate tracer of chemicals recently synthesized from atmospheric CO2, captured by recently produced bio-mass (see table below). These definitions do not refer to any other product characteristics such as LCA-performance, biodegradability or the sustainability of biomass used, or non-EU usage. Though these characteristics, and other elements, may be important selling points, they need to be assessed and communicated separately. One understands the importance of having an end-of-waste status to a medium for insects production, raised for proteins for food companies, but als for struvite-recovery at RWZI-sites for the phosfate-industry. In short, when information about bio-based content is exchanged between businesses, or with consumers, one must be aware of these differences, and clearly state the standards behind statements on Biobased terms, quality, and content.

Statement | Standard | Description
US Bio-based content | ASTM D6866 | The amount of bio-based organic carbon expressed as fraction of the total amount of organic carbon in sample.
EU Bio-based carbon content | EN 16640 | The amount of bio-based carbon (= organic + inorganic) expressed as fraction of the total amount of carbon in sample
EU Bio-based content | EN 16785-1 | The amount of bio-based C, H, N, O expressed as a fraction of the total mass of sample

Statements on bio-based content

(Auteur Chapter 4.3: dr. E.F.M.Wubben, Wageningen University)