The petrochemical and agro-food industries in Romania can play an important role in creating a new industry based on the use of biomass as a raw material and its transformation into value-added products, according to the latest country report by the Bio-Based Industries Consortium (BIC). The report identifies the main Romanian biomass sources that could be used as sustainable raw materials for bio-industries, as well as the main actors in the relevant sectors and the opportunities for developing industries based on these activities.
According to the BIC, agriculture and forestry, together with other industries such as food processing, wood industry, paper and pulp industry, can produce large quantities of waste and other unused or little used materials, being available as raw material for biomass processing industries.
“Such reports highlight the enormous potential for local bio-economy development in Romania, Poland and Portugal,” said Dirk Carrez, BIC executive director, in a press release. “All three countries are in the process of developing national bio-economy strategies that will help accelerate biomass-based activities,” continues the official from BIC, an organization that will publish similar reports for three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and will also finish such reports on five more countries by mid-2020.
In addition to the country report for Romania, BIC has also published country reports for Poland and Portugal, the ultimate goal being to agree, in particular with industry representatives and governmental institutions, an action plan to provide support for the creation and the development of the local biomass processing industry.
The Bio-Based Industries Consortium (BIC) is a non-profit organization based in Brussels and represents the private sector through a public-private partnership (PPP) with the EU, the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU). In the amount of € 3.7 billion, the partnership allows for the mobilization of investments in innovative facilities and processes that generate products from high-quality biomass resources as well as in bio-refinery research projects and demonstration projects. BIC includes multiple sectors including agriculture, agri-food, forestry, pulp and paper, chemicals, energy and other manufacturing sectors. With more than 200 members, including large companies, SMEs, clusters for SMEs, research and technology companies, universities, technology platforms and associations across Europe, BIC brings together a group of recognized professional authority and intersectoral and multidisciplinary expertise in biomass-based industries.