Supporting the identification of policy priorities and recommendations for designing a sustainable track towards circular bio-based systems

Project Information

SUSTRACK

Grant agreement ID: 101081823

DOI

10.3030/101081823

Project closed

EC signature date 10 August 2022

Start date 1 November 2022

End date 31 October 2025

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 1 993 375,00

EU contribution

€ 1 993 375,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA UNITELMA SAPIENZA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SUSTRACK (Supporting the identification of policy priorities and recommendations for designing a sustainable track towards circular bio-based systems)

Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2025-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The transition from linear fossil-based systems to circular and bio-based systems represents an opportunity and a suitable pathway for achieving several SDGs. Indeed, circular bio-based systems depict a great opportunity to reconcile sustainable long-term growth with environmental protection through the prudent use of renewable resources for industrial purposes. This needed transition is a complex process, which does not simply require innovative technologies from the supply side, but also societal transformations based on a multi-actor process. The circular bioeconomy meta-sector may be a good candidate to put forward a new economic model, which requires transformative policies, purposeful innovation, access to finance, risk-taking capacity as well as new and sustainable business models and markets. However, a critical assessment of the environmental, social and economic impacts of the current linear fossil-based economy, as well as of the improvement potential associated with circular bio-based systems, is needed to underpin the identification of policy priorities. In this context, the SUSTRACK project supports policy makers and industries in their efforts to develop sustainable pathways to replace fossil-based, carbon-intensive systems with circular, bio-based systems (i.e. the ‘sustainable transition’) by: providing knowledge and tools for monitoring and assessing the environmental, social and economic impacts of both the linear, fossil-intensive economy and a circular, bio-based economy; and identifying priorities and defining actions to support policy makers in their efforts to promote the sustainable transition, in consideration of EU, local and cross-territorial value chains.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the main barriers to the transition to a circular bio-based economy (CBBE). After the literature review, stakeholder consultation and multi-criteria decision analysis methods were applied and a final list of 31 barriers was compiled.
Adopting a case study approach, SUSTRACK mainly focused on the construction, textile, plastics and chemicals sectors. An extensive description and analysis of all 11 case studies was reported, following consistent guidelines for elaborating fact sheets.
SUSTRACK employed a system dynamic modelling approach to examine how different policy pathways could drive the transition to a CBBE. To this aim, the Green Economy Model is used by applying a systems-based approach. Three main scenarios were created for simulation: the baseline scenario was the Business as Usual (BAU), and the BioTransition and the BioRevolution scenarios, aiming at a transformation towards a fully CBBE. Focus countries were selected as Germany for construction and plastics, the Netherlands for chemicals, and Italy for textiles.
A monitoring and assessment framework was developed to track how countries were progressing in their transition towards a CBBE. First aim was to support the understanding of good management for the circular bioeconomy (CBE) transition. Second, we aimed to elicit connections between indicators, SDGs, and benchmarks. And third, access to existing resources was facilitated and the CBE Indicators Repository was created as a consolidated database. Overall, the SUSTRACK Monitoring Tool currently integrates more than 500 indicators, all mapped to the SDGs, making it one of the most comprehensive and user-friendly resources available for monitoring the bioeconomy.
Finally, the policy analysis started with an AI-assisted literature review to collect policy options for transition. Several rounds of stakeholder consultations were organised to discuss the identified policies. The sets of policy instruments were discussed at the European level and then further analysed to determine how they would be preferred and applied at the national level. For each analysed sector, SUSTRACK created policy fact sheets with exemplary solutions and dedicated policy roadmaps.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

For policy makers at various levels, Key Exploitable Results (KERs) such as policy portfolio scenarios, recommendations, roadmap guidelines, the monitoring framework, and dashboard can inform evidence-based policy design, track progress towards the Green Deal and Fit for 55 targets. Industry and SMEs across construction, textiles, chemicals, plastics, and bio-based sectors can benefit from case study analyses, toolkits, and dashboard insights to benchmark practices, design sustainable business models, and align strategies with EU policy requirements. Academia and research organisations can integrate SUSTRACK case studies, methodological frameworks, reports, and event formats into curricula and research activities, while also replicating event formats in Horizon Europe projects to further promote stakeholder engagement. Civil society, NGOs, and local communities can apply empowerment activities, co-creation event formats, and toolkits to conduct awareness campaigns, engage citizens in sustainability transitions, and mobilise grassroots contributions to CBBE. In parallel, EU platforms and networks such as EuBioNet and the Circular Bioeconomy Cluster play a vital role in ensuring the long-term visibility of SUSTRACK’s outputs by hosting them in open repositories, promoting replication of event formats and toolkits across EU-funded projects, and maintaining the dashboard as a shared EU resource.

SUSTRACK's approach to policy recommendations