Opening bio-based markets via standards, labelling and procurement – Open-Bio

Open-Bio investigates how markets can be opened for bio-based products through standardization, labelling and procurement. Therefore, one focus of the project is on the sustainability of bio-based resources and the potential testing methods to quantify this criterion. Another important aspect is the end-of-life research, and thirdly Open-Bio will investigate the needs and demands of consumer groups and develop a system that can provide the relevant information about bio-based products to make buying decisions easier for businesses, public procurement and private customers. One of the expected project outcomes is to conceptualize an Ecolabel that can be applied to bio-based products to strengthen consumer confidence and boost market demand.

LeAF is involved in two work packages dealing with the end-of-life biogasification and marine biodegradation research. For these specific tasks LeAF contributes to the development of disintegration and biodegradation tests for biobased material ending up in digesters or in different marine environments like coastal areas or buried in sea sediment.
Open-Bio is a 3 year project which kicked off in November 2013. The project builds on the results of another FP7 research project called KBBPPS (Knowledge Based Bio-based Products’ Pre-Standardization). Open-Bio aims to refine the results and to further develop  knowledge on implementation of the standardization result in relation to market development of biobased products. The end-of life research will be expanded to different biodegradation scenarios, composting and recyclability. Functionality testing will focus on the gaps identified by KBBPPS and on the special properties of bio-based products.
More information on Open-Bio: www.biobasedeconomy.eu/research/open-bio

Contact Miriam van Eekert for more information on LeAF’s involvement in the project.