Objective
Europe produces vast amounts of underutilised or damaged wood biomass from pests, storms, floods, and wildfires. This resource is often wasted or incinerated, leading to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and risks to biodiversity. At the same time, the cosmetic industry continues to rely on fossil-derived and sometimes hazardous ingredients, limiting both sustainability and product safety.
V-Forest addresses these challenges by developing decentralised, containerised valorisation strategies to transform underutilised wood biomass into high-value, bio-based cosmetic ingredients, while ensuring potential transferability to other bio-based sectors such as food and feed. The project combines advanced pretreatment and fractionation techniques, including supercritical CO2, deep eutectic solvents (DES), and mild solvolysis, with complementary chemical and biotechnological valorisation routes. These processes enable the recovery of diverse fractions, such as apolar extracts, lignin oligomers, cellulose-derived sugars, probiotics, and bacteriocins, that can be integrated into safe, functional, and sustainable cosmetic formulations.
The concept will be demonstrated up to TRL5, with initial biomass pretreatment steps located near feedstock sources to reduce transport costs, generate new income opportunities for forest owners, and stimulate rural development. Biodiversity and soil safeguards will be ensured through selective harvesting, regeneration measures, and advanced monitoring, aligning with EU strategies on carbon removal, biodiversity protection, and the circular bioeconomy.
The consortium includes one forest manager, four SMEs, and two academic partners, covering the entire value chain from feedstock supply and processing to cosmetic formulation and market analysis. Using LCA, TEA, and multi-stakeholder engagement, V-Forest will provide evidence-based policy recommendations and a roadmap for future scale-up.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries forestry silviculture
- social sciences economics and business economics bioeconomy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.6 - Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.6.6 - Bio-based Innovation Systems in the EU Bioeconomy
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-JU-RIA - HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20500 ABO
Finland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.